Rant Out Loud

Rantoutloud.org has moved : Wordpress

2010-03-27T09:43:00.000Z

Bye Bye Blogger, Bye ByeAfter many years of faithful service and development tweaks, I'm saying goodbye to Blogger. The ftp publishing service has gone and I'm not prepared to suffer the limitations of the blogspot environment. So Wordpress site is up and running and this site will dissapear shortly.

Wordpress: Help

2010-03-26T12:17:00.002Z

WordpressOh my god this is doing my head in!

iROC : OFF

2010-03-22T21:48:00.000Z

iROC CancelledYou know I thought when I saw the new dates earlier in the year for the iROC event, why did they move it? Now it's been cancelled, Bank Holiday was not a great time to pitch for the event? My only issue now is what to put in instead?

Illuminating Hadrian's Wall : Cell 29

2010-03-14T10:04:00.002Z

Cell 29, originally uploaded by rantoutloud.Posted to the distant outskirts of Walltown in deepest Northumberland. This may not have been the most spectacular of positions but we did our bit for the good of all. It was fantastic just from the feeling to have taken part and be one of the few, the cameradere, the craic, the cold... bloody hell it was cold when the lights went out and the sky

Yum

2010-03-08T22:29:00.003Z

I don't do dessertsYum, originally by rantoutloud.Raspberry, lemon syllabub, oatmeal needs chocolate.

Google acquires picnik

2010-03-04T19:16:00.000Z

All your base are usWell I suppose it had to happen eventually, all the good bits of software on the web get swallowed up by the behmoth that's Google.Now I know I use lots of Google stuff but I'm beginning to object to the giant gobbling up everything that's useful. Now I suppose that the tune would be a different one if Google came to Off Exploing and offered even a fraction of the sum that's

Off Exploring new printed Travel Journal

2010-03-04T13:53:00.005Z

Off Exploring new printed Travel Journal, by rantoutloud.The new leather look design of Off Exploring's printed travel journal is amazing. The new design will be available for general release in the next few days. You can even customise the photograph on the front cover.Off Exploring is an on line travel journal for travellers to record their trips and travel experiences using blogs, photos and

Best before 30th Dec

2010-03-03T19:16:00.002Z

Best before 30th Dec, by rantoutloud.Creme Fraiche from the fridge.

Training : Bywell

2010-02-20T13:09:00.005Z

Sunny Running by the TyneI've said before that running on the flat is harder than uphill and way more than downhill (my favorite) but this morning's training down by the Tyne at Bywell was glorious. The sun shining, the birds singing, dogs barking... You get the picture. When the weather is like this, cold mind you, the running seems all that easier even though the effort isn't. We were trying to

Hexham Farmer's Market

2010-02-13T10:55:00.003Z

Hexham, by rantoutloud. Jazz folk band in Hexham playing this morning in less than balmy weather. The monthly Farmer's Market in Hexham is a real crowd puller and there's often street entertainment like this to keep the shoppers amused after they've spent all their money. The market itslef is healthy with a variety of sellers, an over abundance of organic meat stalls perhaps but in general the

Kielder Greys Summit Race

2010-02-09T21:52:00.005Z

Castles, Crags, Summits, Snows and BogThe Kielder Grey's Summit race last Sunday lived up to it's expectation, perhaps with a little less snow that forecast. It was a cold and slightly foggy lunch time start from Kielder Castle, sent on our way by Will and his dog. A substantial turnout, given the weather and remoteness of the location, of some 55 runners all eager and variously willing and able

Training : New Year

2010-02-01T19:53:00.004Z

Kielder Greys Summit RaceView Kielder Greys Summit Race in a larger mapIt's next weekend and the training hasn't been enough and there's something about this aerial photo that looks dark and gloomy and foreboding. Friend said at the weekend 'Oh you'll be OK just do it anyway!'. It's alright for you to say you aren't operating these legs or carrying that extra weight from Christmas excess, or

High Spy with my little eye

2010-01-25T23:29:00.002Z

High Spy

2010-01-24T12:50:00.001Z

High Spy, originally uploaded by rantoutloud.

Weather or not to go?

2010-01-23T16:01:00.002Z

Tomorrow and tomorrowThe MIS weather forcast yeterday suggested a short window on the weather over in the Lakes and I was all prepared to go. Now, the revised prediction issued today looks a little less settled with high improbability factor. Thinking that H2G2 just councils "Don't Panic" and the thought of "infinite Improbability" we'll go anyway. As Oats said... "I may be some time".

Basketball

2010-01-22T19:46:00.001Z

Basketball, originally uploaded by rantoutloud.Newcastle vs Worcester

Training : Hill Starts

2010-01-19T21:00:00.001Z

Hill starts, false startsJust another training evening in Hexham. Short 'efforts' uphill interspersed with longer runs. Everyone complaining to one degree or another that Christmas has done them some damage and that ther're feeling dreadfully unfit. Time is running out so to speak. Two weeks to the Kielder Grey's.

Training : It's a start anyway

2010-01-17T18:33:00.004Z

No racing hereThe Kielder Greys Summit Race had been cancelled; still too much snow. It's now on for the 7th Feb. It is probably a good job too for my sake anyway. Training has to start in ernest but work (too much) and motivation (not enough) keep me stuck behind this desk. Thanks to Bryan's article an the link to what is fell racing?; I kicked myself and got out for an hour or so this afternoon

Ice & Snow

2010-01-09T13:50:00.003Z

Winter weather Jan 2010Ice, by rantoutloud.1 footThe snow and ice around my house is very pretty. All the same it's hard work too, I had to clear the square out before I could get to the wedding last weekend. and it's a constant battle to keep it all clear. We've had a least a foot of snow over the past two weeks and there's more forecast.Travelling, even on the A1 and A69 trunk roads has been

New Year

2010-01-01T12:54:00.002Z

2009 : 2010Back Gate, uploaded by rantoutloud.It's New Year's Day and I awoke to 6" of snow and more falling. I have to travel to North Yorkshire today for my daughter's wedding tomorrow so I'm faced with the prospect of digging the car out and indeed the whole of the small square / courtyard in front of my flat. It's very pretty for sure but it takes nearly 2 1/2 hours. No one is awake to help

Ullswater : Revisited

2009-12-31T14:46:00.005Z

Autopano testingI've been playing around with this new software application I have just bought called Autopano. It's designed to stitch together mulpiple images to form panoramas or so-called GigaPixel images. I'd have to say that this is one of the most impressive pieces of software I have ever used. It's not perfect with difficult sets of images such as this one but in general it is several

Sunset over Grasmoor

2009-12-30T16:31:00.013Z

Long Shadows in the MoonlightWell indeed the sun had truly set by the time I got off the fell, moonlight and a decent head torch my only comfort.Looking back to SkiddawCorniceThe day had started late, looking at the weather forecast the evening previously I had expected fog lower down and had delayed my journey so that I don't get to Braithwaite until around ten in the morning. I wish I had got

sail

2009-12-28T19:38:00.002Z

sail, uploaded by rantoutloud.It's now very late in the afternoon, around 3:40 and there still some 6 miles or more to go. It is going to be dark on the way down.

Crag Hill

2009-12-28T12:59:00.003Z

Crag Hill from Hobcarton Pike

rime

2009-12-28T12:58:00.002Z

Rime Ice, uploaded by rantoutloud.

GP

2009-12-28T11:29:00.002Z

GP, originally uploaded by rantoutloud.At the start of the day, really at least an hour and a half too late, for which I was to suffer for later in the day.

Grisdale Pike

2009-12-28T10:42:00.001Z

Grisdale Pike, originally uploaded by rantoutloud.

Causey Pike

2009-12-28T10:28:00.001Z

Causey Pike, originally uploaded by rantoutloud.

Skiddaw behind

2009-12-28T10:22:00.001Z

Skiddaw behind, originally uploaded by rantoutloud.

Blencathra

2009-12-28T09:39:00.002Z

Blencathra, originally uploaded by rantoutloud.

Tomorrow's Outlook

2009-12-27T17:36:00.006Z

A light Breeze and minus 2°The outlook for tomorrow's weather over in the Lake District is good. Enough of this tarmac! breakout the ice axe and crampons, to the hills!The Mountain Weather Information ServiceOh and it's worth looking at the new mobile weather forecast from MWIS too.

Boxing Day : On the March Again

2009-12-27T14:15:00.005Z

Working off the Christmas ExcessView Military Road in a larger mapActually it's Sunday and after something of a three week layoff, or more indeed, the anticipation of the work to come, to say nothing of the cold and wet and ice was daunting to say the least. The short run up from the flat to the A69 and beyond was enough to tell me that the idea of continuing on the cross country route was

Comedy Club

2009-12-11T22:14:00.001Z

Comedy Club, originally uploaded by rantoutloud.

DIY Surgery

2009-12-10T23:12:00.001Z

DIY, originally uploaded by rantoutloud.Surgery, running repairs, call it what you will, steristrips are my friends

Hobbling round

2009-12-07T13:42:00.007Z

Bog TrottingVery heavy going and the aformentioned head injury and a general feeling of 'thank god it's the last one before Christmas' I didn't really enjoy the run. The route was extremely boggy in parts and very slippery in others. All this rain over the past few weeks has left the ground saturated. I took a couple of falls along the way and I don't think I was the only one. The last one across

Another Excuse

2009-12-04T14:49:00.004Z

Another Excuse, by rantoutloud.Heading for a fall.Trying to head-butt an immovable object on Thursday saw me in Leeds LGI A&E with this. After an hour wait I discharged myself, there were others who needed their help more than I and the bleeding had stopped (just).At least I'll have another excuse to come last on Sunday.

Time Off

2009-11-29T22:33:00.002Z

Working HypothesisWell after last Tuesday's training runs, more intervals and hilly ones at that, around Hexham I've had a forced lay off. Work intervenes, with tender dealines of 12:00 Monday means working all weekend and every evening last week except Tuesday. This of course doesn't do well for next weekend's Hexhamshire Hobble.

Whittle Dean Revisited

2009-11-15T12:23:00.005Z

And Hell is still where I saw it lasthide map | show mapView Horsley in a larger mapThe weather men have over stressed the warnings again, obviously for the benefit of the soft southerners again. To be fair the blow on the south coast does look spectacular but up here in the north, where it's usually 'Grim' remember, we've had a lovely couple of days. Revisiting one

Trade Barriers at Newcastle Station

2009-11-13T16:41:00.008Z

Ticket Barriers and Rocket ScienceTicket barriers, by rantoutloud.Ticket BarriersNewcastle StationGiven the total and utter confusion seen at Leeds station over the past few months after the introduction of ticket barriers like these ones seen at Newcastle, one wonders how the masses will cope with the self service and phone printed barcode tickets? My advice add an extra 15mins to your journey

Food

2009-11-03T18:59:00.002Z

Food, originally uploaded by rantoutloud.Carpaccio, excellent.

Black Gate

2009-11-01T22:50:00.001Z

Black Gate, originally uploaded by rantoutloud.This building near the Newcastle Keep used to house the Northumbrian Pipe Museum.

Hobbled in Northumberland

2009-10-31T20:22:00.009Z

Long shadows on the MoorThe mole catcher's invoiceThe weather was so good today I decided to get out, outside with a little encouragement from my friend and self styled life coach (you know who you are). Making the most of it I thought a trip somewhere new, somewhere not far away, it was too late to get to the Lakes, where? Allendale beckoned, the Hexhamshire Hobble in early December is a 10.5

Fog on The Tyne

2009-10-29T13:13:00.001Z

Fog on The Tyne, originally uploaded by rantoutloud.This is the view from outside of my office this morning. It's difficult to capture the atmosphere and scope of this view especially with just the phone's camera.

Christmas Cards

2009-10-26T23:27:00.005Z

The Goose is Getting FatLooking to organise Christmas early this year already looking at buying Charity Christmas Cards from my favorite on-line store Squashed-Tomato. A great range of Christmas cards and gifts including Big Baby Jewelry. I think they're planning to be at the Living North Fair in November too.

mootools

2009-10-26T21:14:00.004Z

Second HelpingsOver the weekend I was trying to develop a new way to maintain the list of events in the right hand column sidebar of this blog. Up until this evening the only way to make a change to anything in the sidebar was to edit the template from within blogger and re publish the whole blog. Not ever efficient or flexible.iframeAt first I tried to use an iframe. Separate frames are not the

Extreme Measures

2009-10-24T22:02:00.002+01:00

Extreme Measures, originally uploaded by rantoutloud.Jazz at the Exchange Cafe, Hexham. Good gig, some great music but spolit a little by the lack of an audience. The hard light and high ceilings isn't great for a Jazz venue and it's the first time I'd thought that the smoking ban was detrimental to atmosphere. That ofcourse is just me hankering back to the 'good old days' of University gigs like

Next Time

2009-10-22T20:26:00.006+01:00

What Next IndeedThe observant amongst you will have noticed the lack of future events on my timetable. (the right-hand column of this page). It's not that I'm giving up you understand it's just I can't make my mind up what to do next. This year has been one of nay firsts and not all of them 'Horriblis'. The Yorkshire 3 Peaks, iROC, and the Lakeland 3000, not to mention the 2 or 3 Northumbrian

Training : Fartlek

2009-10-20T21:18:00.006+01:00

And Now in PairsI thought a trip to the local builders merchants come DIY store would be just that. How wrong can I be?As it turns out very wrong. Running in pairs so called 'efforts' about 500m a minutes worth, at first anyway, out and back to your 'partner'. Switch roles, they run you rest, they come back you run and so on. There is two things to note about this. The first point is you only get

MOOTOOLS TEST

2009-10-18T09:56:00.016+01:00

mootools : FxSlide() in a blog pageThis is an experimental effect designed to hide the map withing a blog article. The mootools javascript toolset or framework is well understood. The trick is to apply it to a blog page which is not static. That is to say the number of maps displayed in a page will vary due to the author's content, I may not include a map in every post and secondly due to the

Training : Mersey Forest

2009-10-17T18:31:00.006+01:00

Back To The CountryVisiting parents, doing the loyal son duty and walk running the dog. Six miles through farmland and green lanes in and around the oddly named 'The Mersey Forest'. Odd because there aren't many trees, lots of cows, this is dairy country and a bull but few trees. Whether the six miles is enough to counteract my mum's cooking I don't know.

Food For Thought

2009-10-13T18:53:00.002+01:00

Chance encounters on the trainI had the fortunate experience of meeting someone, Andy Good the Managing Director of Equal Exchange, on the train down to Leeds the other day. My knowledge of the issues around Fairtrade is now much enhanced, food for thought indeed.I also get to use that dubiously funny pun.

Gagging over Toxicity, Lawyers and Freedom of the Press

2009-10-13T18:16:00.007+01:00

Traffigura and the GuardianI read this non article in the Guardian on the train down to Bradford this morning and resolved to look it up when I got home to find out what the hell it was all about. Thanks to Tynedock Green, Chicken Youghurt and the Guardian its self I now know a lot more than I did at 7:30 when I bought the paper. It is a ludicrous attempt by big business to stop legitimate

Alwinton Border Shepherds Show

2009-10-10T18:31:00.007+01:00

Gridlocked Alwinton Border Shepherd's Show start of fell race by Rob Stephens.It's always a good idea to arrive a little early for these show events. They are usually popular, depending on the weather of course, and access to 'carpark' facilities is often restricted after all it's usually just a gate and a field. I thought I'd left plenty of time, the weather didn't look great so I'd assumed that

Weather : The Outlook

2009-10-07T07:58:00.005+01:00

It must be WinterI may be slightly mistaken but I just heard the word snow used in the weather forecast on Radio 4 this morning and it's also mentioned in the MWIS one as well. I think this is the first time this year. Is it winter already? I'd better break out the ice axe and crampons soon.

Training : Around and Up and Up and Down

2009-10-06T21:36:00.003+01:00

Intervals, againI think I live in a Escher Like world where even if there are some downs there are definitely more ups than downs. This does appear to be contrary to my friend's experience where Tyneside's East End appears only to have scrap heaps.Tonight's training run appeared to consist of semi-circular routes around the trading/industrial estate at the back of Hexham followed by a never

Getting High with Buffalo Bill Cody

2009-10-04T19:12:00.006+01:00

Kites : Cody Man LifterOoooh that's high.HQ ParafoilThere's a few things that blokes never grow out of. One of them is "kites", there's not much more distracting than flying a huge kite in a big wind. (There are lots of other things obviously but this is a family safe rated blog most of the time.) After working in a stuffy study for most of the weekend, for couple of hours this afternoon this was

Comedy Club

2009-10-02T22:37:00.008+01:00

Laugh? I nearly drew a blankThe Queen's Hall Arts Centre HexhamIt was a spur of the moment thing, coming home after work on Friday. You can see how engaged I was by the fact that I drew these caricatures of the compare and two of the three performers while drinking my beer. It was funny though and I'll probably be back next month, (Nov 7th.)

Training : Back to it

2009-09-29T22:48:00.000+01:00

IntervalsSo it's dark now and off road running on a Tuesday evening is off. In it's place is road running training, intervals and rat runs in and around Hexham.After almost three weeks off, lazing in the sun or just skiving, tonight was a bit of a shock. Steep hills flat out, repeated intervals with bugger all rest and a weird masochistic streak that made me try and out run myself and all around

Four Seasons

2009-09-28T22:34:00.007+01:00

AutumnStrawThere's a sense of satisfactionOf a job almost doneWell trimmed hedgerowsClose cropped fieldsThe last of the summer sunshineStockpiled high.

Mezze

2009-09-17T11:33:00.001+01:00

Mezze, originally uploaded by rantoutloud.This is just the starter!

boats

2009-09-17T08:09:00.001+01:00

boats, originally uploaded by rantoutloud.

The Tour of Britain : The Breakaway

2009-09-13T17:45:00.002+01:00

The Breakaway, originally uploaded by rantoutloud.This small breakaway group was soon caught by the Pelaton.Photo taken at High Barns Farm Horsley on the way up to Harlow Hill on the Military Road and not far from my flat.

Lakeland Langdale

2009-09-12T21:16:00.007+01:00

View from col below Pike O'SticklePike O'StickleView Crinkle Crags & Langdale Pikes in a larger map

Millenium Bridge

2009-09-07T23:38:00.001+01:00

Millenium Bridge, originally uploaded by rantoutloud.The newest Tyne Bridge

Tynedale : Jelly Tea Race

2009-09-06T18:25:00.002+01:00

Better in the eating than in anticipationI'd been panicking all week and more besides, the thought of 10 miles, longer than anything I've run was getting to me.I'm up early pacing the hallway. Take the train to Hexham, leaving my car at the finish in Prudhoe / Ovingham. Early again pacing the platform. Arrival at the start over an hour to go. Meet up with a couple of the girls from Tyndale

Manchester

2009-09-03T11:22:00.003+01:00

Restful is just an APIThe Ashton Canal, ManchesterCanals in ManchesterI'd been invited to a conference by the people at JISC after my uncesseful bid for funding of a spinnoff project to ALPS which involved development of an iPhone™ version of the ALPS client software.

Training : This is becoming a Habit

2009-08-30T14:58:00.002+01:00

Addicted to endorphinsView Hexham - Corbridge in a larger mapThe Jelly race is just a week away now, Sunday the 6th Sept at 11:00. So I'm trying desperately to put some miles and speed work in. After yesterday's lovely walk in the lakes I was still keen to add more miles. So today I drove to Hexham with a plan to run the start of the road race route to Corbridge and then make my way back via the

Coledale Round

2009-08-29T18:29:00.005+01:00

Whatever the weatherView Braithwaite-Coldale in a larger mapAn un-hurried brisk glorious Lakeland day of changeable weather from thick fog to clear skies, blustery winds to calm and sheltered. Beautiful views over the Newlands Valley with grass so green it defied the imagination. A memorable day for sure.11 miles, 5327ft of ascent, 5 hours.

Training: A week's worth

2009-08-28T20:37:00.002+01:00

10 MilesThis week been panicking about the 10 miler coming up in what is now less than a week! I can't seem to break the 6mile 10k barrier very easily. OK the odd Tuesday night run has been over 7 miles, this week included but it's a struggle and there's always those 30 second stops at stiles and crossings.So the emphasis this week has been on quantity and a trying to keep the average speed up,

Training : Tyneside

2009-08-23T20:13:00.004+01:00

Upping the paceView Ovingham-Wylam in a larger mapIt's been a busy weekend. After the race yesterday I decied to take it easy today and sat in front of the TV watching the athletics, got bored, cooked a pork and bean casserole for a late lunch, more athletics, more bored. Damn, changed, and out five miles along the riverside from Ovingham to Wylam over Hagg Bank Bridge and back along the Tynedale

Falstone Falcon

2009-08-23T10:36:00.006+01:00

Falstone Show Fell RaceMy second 'real' Northumberland fell race, like the previous one based at a country show. This time at Falstone near Kielder Water in the heart of Northumberland.The start by Rob Stephens / Pat?The race was hard with a pull up the fell behind Falstone of some 500' or so over tussock grass and heather. Then on through the forest, crossing several streams all of which

Training : Figure of Eight

2009-08-20T21:00:00.000+01:00

Somewhere NewView Humshaugh in a larger mapThursday night 'Pub Run' from the Crown at Humshaugh was an opportunity for a change of route and scenery with the added bonus of food and drinks afterwards.The run took us down through Chollerford, Walwick, up to the top of Rye Hill and back around via the Military Road and new Hadrian's Wall walkers' path down into Humshaugh.The food in the pub

Tuesday : Training

2009-08-18T21:00:00.003+01:00

Causey Hill again, the hard way. I'm sure I live in the world of Escher where everything is uphill.

Waterlogged on High Street

2009-08-16T14:04:00.005+01:00

Haweswater : You can see whySmall Water + HaweswaterThe weather didn't look promising desite the weather man on Radio 4 this morning suggesting dry and sunny day with a little showery weather in the North West. Remember this is the Lake District and the Victorians built the resevoirs here for a good reason, it's normally pissing down and today was no exception.High Street, 2700 odd feet and it's

2009-08-11T20:51:00.000+01:00

View Hexham_Acomb in a larger map

Training: Hexham

2009-08-05T01:36:00.002+01:00

View Hexham Causey Hill in a larger mapRoute statistics: Distance: 12.88 km; Elevation gain: 243.7 m; Elevation loss: -243.6 m

Training Resumed : Jelly All Round

2009-07-29T21:34:00.005+01:00

There's Bears in them WoodsView Hexham in a larger mapThere's nothing like getting a race bib number in the post and a sudden realisation that the start date is just a few weeks away to get the motivation going. For 'motivation' read PANIC.After a few weeks of not feeling great and not enjoying the running I decided last night to get down to it and motivate myself. The receipt of the bib for the

Reservoir Dogs

2009-07-19T23:35:00.005+01:00

Running on WaterThe reservoirs from near Harlow HillView Whittle Dean Resevoirs in a larger mapRunning out after all that rain, I didn't think it'd be possible yesterday but the weather turned warm and sunny. Another new route variation, north from the flat up towards Hadrians Wall and around the reservoirs at the top of Whittle Dean. Many of the tracks were both overgrown from lack of traffic,

Rain stops play

2009-07-18T16:00:00.004+01:00

The River TyneRiver Tyne, Hexham Trying something new, embedded video clip of the river just below the bridge at aHexham after considerable overnight rain. The power and the noise of the flow was considerable and a huge contrast with the conditions seen last week when the rowers were out on the water and the sun was shining.The weather this weekend is mixed at best with a big anticyclone over

Training : 2 for 1

2009-07-15T20:19:00.001+01:00

Two For the price of oneView Training in a larger map

Sunshine on Tyne

2009-07-13T19:42:00.001+01:00

Sunshine on Tyne, originally uploaded by rantoutloud.Not fog

Military Way

2009-07-12T19:54:00.001+01:00

View Military Way in a larger map

The Pot of Gold

2009-07-06T17:48:00.002+01:00

The Pot of Gold, uploaded by rantoutloud.Great Railway Journeys of the world, Leeds to York. This spectacular rainbow seen from the train going to York on my way home from Leeds at about 17:30. Over the past few days there's been much 'big weather'; thunderstorms and sunshine and the contrasts on a minute by minute and mile by mile basis seem extraordinary.

Downtime

2009-07-06T00:25:00.007+01:00

Getting The Sunday Papers inHagg Bank BridgeView Horsley Wylam Ovingham in a larger map Taking a 9 mile walk just to get the papers in seems a little excessive perhaps.There's a good description of the Hagg Bank Bridge over on Cycle-Routes.org and yes it does look like The Tyne Bridge, that's because it was the predecessor of both the Tyne Bridge and the Sydney Harbour Bridge in Australia.

10K: Wiped Out

2009-07-01T22:14:00.006+01:00

Thynedale 10KNearly 600 finishers by runnerwanderingsPensive0:54min My goal achieved; under an hour, still standing at the end of a very hot and humid race. Pacing as usual a bloody nightmare, went through the 3 mile marker in just 23mins but started to flag badly through miles 4 and 5. It's the first time I've run with so many people and spectators, the encouragement was clearly helpful. The Pie

New Shoes: ROC on baby

2009-06-29T19:18:00.002+01:00

inov-8 ROCLITE 315First, limted I admit, impressions are they are good. They seem to be much bouncier under foot and sturdy around the rand. This makes tham look more solid and much more like a mountaineering fell shoe but they are supple and don't feel at all constraining or heavy. 3 miles this evening, it's way too hot for anything except a BBQ.

Training: Flat Out

2009-06-27T20:22:00.006+01:00

Ovingham to Wylam and backRiver TyneI have decided running on the flat, or nearly flat is way way harder than running up hill! How, you may ask yourself, does he reckon that? He is mad. The problem seems to be all about pace.On the up hill sections of a run, like last Tuesday's run up Causey Hill near Hexham, you can naturally pace yourself, gravity, friction and so all help to find a natural

Cobblers!

2009-06-26T23:53:00.005+01:00

The Wrong ShoesI sent my trusty pair of inov-8 Flyroc 310's back to the manufacturers yesterday as they appeared to be coming apart. I considered it to be a manufacturing fault and asked inov-8 to repair or replace them. At first they said it was fair wear and tear and refused. They said things like "you've worn the tread down by half" implying I'd had my money's worth and it's "your running

Running Hexham

2009-06-23T22:27:00.004+01:00

Causey HillView Hexham Causey HillBack to the traditional Tuesday night runouts, this time Causey Hill. The pull up from the Wentworth leisure centre in Hexham is unforgiving. Halfway up the hill at one of the natural stops, a stile, I had to lie down or else I'd have fallen over, light headed and dizzy. I can only assume that I'm de-hydrated and lacking energy despite eating and drinking; I

Transport For London:Oyster Cards Illegal!

2009-06-18T13:32:00.012+01:00

National Rail Conditions of Carriage make Oyster Cards IllegalContrary to popular belief I don't often complain but I had what I thought was a very justifiable reason to do so the other day. While travelling around London I was subject to a penalty fare by Southern Trains. I won't bore you with all the details of how and why but needless to say I hadn't been trying to avoid paying my fare but as

No rest for the knackered

2009-06-17T19:36:00.003+01:00

Back on the treadmillToo soon perhaps? Last night's regular training run didn't seem to be faster than ususal and the GPS record when examined afterwards confirmed it; a measly 7.11 miles at an average of 5.5mph. However I was at the back of the field most of the evening and suffering.Obviously that's going to get me nowhere in the forthcoming Tynedale 10k, well not nowhere hopefully 10k but in

Systems staff in the dark again

2009-06-17T13:19:00.001+01:00

Systems staff in the dark again, originally uploaded by rantoutloud.

Offexploring

2009-06-17T13:16:00.001+01:00

Offexploring, originally uploaded by rantoutloud.

McGookin shows his true calling

2009-06-17T13:09:00.001+01:00

McGookin shows his true calling, originally uploaded by rantoutloud.

Lakeland 3000 : The Full Monte

2009-06-13T21:34:00.042+01:00

The actualityKeswick - Skiddaw -KeswickSkiddaw summitWe started a little early keen to get off and the weather was just fantastic. We made very good time on this first section, 2hrs ahead of schedule which we maintained almost until the end. That buffer was to prove a real lifesaver both mentally and literally.Skiddaw has a reputation of being a bit boring, often referred to as Skidbore by many.

It hurts

2009-06-13T18:37:00.003+01:00

Back home and reflectingWe did it! Starting a mote early on Friday morning at 05:45 from Keswick Moot Hall and returning back to the same spot at 03:20 on Saturday.

scafell

2009-06-13T03:54:00.001+01:00

scafell, originally uploaded by rantoutloud.

derwentwater

2009-06-12T08:18:00.001+01:00

derwentwater, originally uploaded by rantoutloud.

Langwathby Station

2009-06-11T22:38:00.001+01:00

Langwathby Station, originally uploaded by rantoutloud.

Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow

2009-06-11T08:22:00.003+01:00

Here we go here we go!Well almost, I'm packed and now just got to get through today without losing my grip, overdosing on adrenaline. The weather looks very good for Friday too and that is really a big big plus. Hopefully it'll not get too warm 6 ~ 8° and clear skies are predicted.