Seem to have picked-up a bug at Kat’s “six degrees of separation” party in Charterhouse Bar on Friday. Looks like a few of us have it. Training is off the cards while I spend my days either huddled under a duvet at home, or buried under a big furry coat at my desk in the office…boo!

Had a last minute postponement of a 4pm meeting with the US based boss to this evening, so thought I’d skip out of work early and put some mileage in.

Had to drop some bits off to my tenants at Liverpool St, so created a fairly ad-hoc route home along the river, there and back across the Square Mile, and then in a moment of inspiration further along the Thames to Westminster Bridge and home.

A rather nice 11 miles, for possibly my longest route yet.

(the humps in the chart are me stopping at various properties to pick-up and drop-off ’stuff’)

Went for a hangover curing jog along the river today. Far too busy on the south bank, so popped across Southwark Bridge and west along the north side towards Parliament Square, retracking my walk with Firoze from last week. Had time to hook a quick loop around St James park, past Buckingham Palace, and then back home along the river. Lovely chilly running weather, feel much recovered in time for another mammouth session tonight at Davidski’s birthday.

In a moment of motivation this morning, I booked the Brands Hatch half marathon for 9th Feb and the Beacon Brighton half marathon for 17th Feb. Reuben tells me he’ll join me for both, but there’s plenty of room for any of the silent readership to sign up as well. Let me know if you’re coming!

Cracking fun this evening to break up the usual tired trail home. Joined (trampoline) Kat and her pal Lindsey to give Street-O a try. What’s Street-O I hear you ask, here’s an extract from the Sloweb site:

What is a street event? An urban orienteering event, where you are given a special map of the local area, with the aim of running around looking specific locations (”controls”) on the map, under the street lights. You will also be given a clue sheet, which will ask a question for each control, which you will be able to complete when you find the location – eg “name of the pub” or the “colour of door at number 20″.

Each control is assigned a points value - generally the ones further away are worth more points. The aim is to score as many points as possible, within the given time limit. There are usually two different time options, 45 minutes or 60 minutes, depending on how long you want to run for. Try to keep within the time limit, as you will be penalised points for every minute you are late getting back!

Honest, it’s easier than it sounds! Kat’s going to scan the map and controls tomorrow so I’ll post a copy here to see if can tempt any of y’all with joining me for another go. Definitely a great way to exercise, we ran a 9.3K today and the time flew past effortlessly (well almost effortlessly, I did wear myself out at one point doing the heroic boy thing and doubling back for a control we’d missed while the girls planned ahead).

The Nikeplus data makes for an interesting albeit wobbly read:

Lots of quick stop starts to check the map and ensure we were on the right track, plus a few slow patches running in circles trying to find the clue answer. Great fun though.

We arrived back at the start/finish point with a relaxing 15 seconds to spare, and a verified score of 330 points, which put us in second place just 10 points behind the winner of the girl’s scoreboard! (well, I was running with two chicks who between them were (1) fresh off the trampoline and (2) just back from vacation!!).

This evening was so much fun in fact that we figure we might organise our own event, with the small addition of digital cameras and photographic challenges at each control. I’m up for helping make maps, but will leave Kat to do the motivating and nagging of our somewhat lazy extended family.

Trying to reestablish the daily slog home, slightly dull but effective. Not much to report today, here’s the data (guess I am at least back to a sub-9 minute mile pace, which really isn’t anything to show off about to be honest)…

After a considerable break from the running regime, getting fat on USA booze and portion sizes, have finally restarted my marathon training. That’s all the big work trips out of the way for 2007, now just have to contend with a post-clocks-forward (curse those damn farmers) England that’s properly dark at 5pm. Didn’t really help that my commute home this evening started at 7pm, thanks to the need to print a pile of paperwork out in preparation for a customer site visit to Chester tomorrow.

Anyway, the usual data below. You’ll note the exceedingly slow pace, it makes grim reading.

Oh, on a lighter note I’m pleased to report that I’m apparently part inspiration for my dentist and her health conscious (!) colleagues to also sign up for the 2008 FLM. Am sure the new and improved slimline Fiona’s going to put me to shame with her prowess on race day if I don’t step the training up a notch.