WalesOnline Magazine Sport Blog

Sessions

2009-11-07T16:23:57Z

Tuesday session was at Neath track with a pretty big group and a session of 5 sets of 3x300m was written down with 1minute recovery in between the reps and then 3minutes after each set so you could really push the last rep of each set and get the legs moving. After an extra long wait for Mark Morgan who impressively beat the Hobbs brothers on the lateness (pretty hard to do!) by about 20minutes. Another old boy was joining us, Darren Hiscox, so it was like a melting pot of the old and new in welsh distance running!

There must have been about 14 all together but we all worked out where we should be...well most of us did, there's always one that gets in the way. We tried to stay solid on times but push the last rep of each set going under 45seconds. The weather was good if not a bit cold but it was a good session and I felt pretty good taking a few reps and tucking in when the legs started to fill up which is the great thing about a group, you can get a bit of recovery in the reps when guys like Marc and Lewys take a few at the front....even Mark Morgan hit the front for one!

Thursday session was a more controlled effort back on the grass. I am very lucky with the dunes about 2minutes from my front door so I did a 20minute run and then threw some kit in the trees at the start of a big figure of eight loop. This part of the dunes is always quiet (didn't see one person in the whole session) so it's great, it's cut off from the main dunes by the M4 and an old road making a short of triangle of grass/dunes. There's no where for people to park and walk around so no one uses it but there is a great undulating, lumpy and sections of sand which replicate soft mud without ruining the trainers! If you ever drive from Cardiff towards Swansea just after the 'Porthcawl' junction look to the right and you will see the 'triangle' I'm talking about...on the left is the big dunes for longer runs.

Anyway the session was 7x3minute efforts with a jog recovery of between about 1.30-2minutes. The recovery was like this dependant on how I felt really and the jog still had to be decent and not walking type pace. It worked well because it took about 90seconds run after the effort to get back to the start so I just did that so didn't stop for the whole session. It wasn't flat out, making sure I worked up the one couple of slight drags of sand and pushing out of the corners. It really does replicate a cross race with a couple of tight corners, the little drag a short steep downhill and one long lumpy grass straight lasting about a minute. I really enjoyed it and I never thought I would say that about a grass session! I then did another 15minutes run and back home to make Lee some mash, salad and Chicken (marinated in reggae, reggae sauce) for when she got back from work....I'm not just a pretty face you know.

www.RunnersLife.co.uk
Simx

My take on Swansea v Cardiff

2009-11-07T15:58:56Z

Here's some thoughts from a rugby writer who was at the derby earlier (sat behind the Swans dugout), and likes to think he knows a thing or two about football as well.

Well, the better team won. End of.
That's three of the four derbies since both clubs were in the Championship that I've been to and each time Swansea have been superior (I missed the 2-2 draw at the Liberty last season).
The first 25 minutes of this game beggared belief from a Cardiff perspective. Has there ever been a more lethargic start to this game by either side in its history?
Not only were the Bluebirds chasing shadows, they were second to every ball. Quite frankly, the one-sidedness was embarrassing.
How Cardiff went in at 2-2 at half-time I will never know. Probably because Swansea switched off in defence at two key moments.
Suffice to say, the visitors did not warrant being on terms.
Cardiff started the second half much better, and had Ross McCormack's free-kick gone in instead of hitting the crossbar, who knows what would have happened.
But justice was done when Darren Pratley got the winner just after the hour mark.
I say all this as someone from Cardiff, who grew up watching the Bluebirds and who still watches them from time to time.
I'm simply not prepared to try and argue they were hard done by though.
Their two centre-halves - Gerrard and Hudson aren't up to it. They're carthorses in my view, who lack the pace to cope at this level.
All match the pair of them were worried about Swansea pace, which meant they were too deep and forced the Cardiff midfield to cover too much ground.
Subsequently, by the end, when Cardiff should have been hammering the Swans' goal, they were exhausted.
But in any case, there just isn't enough dynamism in the Cardiff midfield, not enough quality and go-forward.
Yes, they were missing Chopra, McPhail and Whittingham, but you have to deal with that.
For me, they are way short of having the strength in depth to challenge for promotion and won't do unless they address these shortcomings through January recruitment.
The bringing on of Solomon Taiwo in the second half exemplified the lack of resources - he looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights.
As for the Swans, well, how they have made such an indifferent start to the season on this evidence, I do not know.
They lack ammunition up front - I don't rate the lumbering Craig Beattie - but in people like Joe Allen, Leon Britton and Darren Pratley they have ball-playing, mobile, athletic and industrious customers.
And their defensive solidity is this season borne out statistically even if there were two lapses against the Bluebirds.
I expect the Swans to start making their presence felt in the play-off positions from now on.
Finally, it was interesting to see the elated reaction of their manager Paulo Sousa to the result.
He joined his players on the pitch of celebratory hugs at the end, I've never seen him so animated.
Maybe Dave Jones could take something from that.
Nothing he has ever said about this match does anything to convince me that not only does he not understand the unique importance of it to the public in South Wales, he's not interested in trying to.
It's always just another three points to him and his outwardly dispassionate stance seemed to have infiltrated the psyche of his team in this one, and it proved so costly.
Even though his side came back to level at 2-2, they lost this match with that dreadful start.
My heart, because of where I am from, was with Cardiff City yesterday.
But sometimes you just have to accept it when the best side wins.
That was Swansea this time round, I'm afraid. Emphatically.

Mind games to make you think

2009-11-04T11:33:41Z

In labouring the point about the All Blacks supposedly having lost their aura, Warren Gatland has broken with all pre-match media convention.

The days leading up to a Test match of such magnitude usually represent a festival of mutual admiration between the two sets of team management.
Don't give them their team talk, is the reasoning behind it. Instead, fall over yourself in bigging up the opposition.
Talk about the threats they possess, even if they don't, and tell anyone who wants to know that what's coming your way is "a major challenge".
Graham Henry's a master at it - and he's already labelled the Welsh match as the toughest his side will encounter in Europe this autumn.
Mr Gatland, however, clearly has a different approach. New Zealand's 2009 defeats, he states, have seen them lose the mental hold they have traditionally had on teams, Wales especially.
Effectively, he's doing what he did before the clash with England in last season's Six Nations when he observed that Martin Johnson's men had "regressed".
Gatland is saying New Zealand are not what they were, and in the responses of Ma Nonu and Wayne Smith, it's already clear that he has wound up the All Blacks camp.
Nonu and Smith have denied the remarks have had any impact, but they said it through gritted teeth.
Triggering such reactions has been the very thing coaches have for decades been at pains not to do, and on that front, Gatland has broken with precedent.
What he has said will either propel New Zealand to a greater level of performance and the customary emphatic win in Cardiff.
Or it will heap pressure on their shoulders and deflect from the cold, ruthless composure that has characterised so many one-sided Wales-New Zealand jousts in the Welsh capital.
If it is the former, then Gatland will be left red-faced and will find pundits queueing up to be wise after the event, saying he should have kept his counsel.
If it is the latter, he will be hailed for his bravery - and if Wales win, they'll probably erect a bronze statue of the guy on Westgate Street.
Whatever, Gatland has taken this stance for a reason. He rarely goes to the Press with his thoughts without there being method to what he says.
I spoke to him during the summer, not long after he had returned from the Lions tour in South Africa.
Inevitably, the subject of these games came up and even back then he pinpointed the psychological hurdle against New Zealand as key.
In other words, this issue has been boiling up inside of him for a long while. He clearly sees Wales' recent failures against the All Blacks as largely down to them not believing any other outcome was genuinely possible.
The recruitment of psychologist Andy McCann is therefore interesting.
It can be seen as Gatland's acknowledgement that while he is a master tactician, while he knows a thing or two about player motivation, he is not an expert in how the mind works.
McCann is. And so in bringing him in to camp Gatland has all bases covered.
He knows he could have done no more in his quest to get the top six inches exactly right, but we will never know if he did or he didn't succeed.
The result will obviously be a huge clue, but who honestly knows what goes on in players' minds?
It is easy to talk about a mode of thinking, as several Wales players have, but real belief cannot be foistered on anyone, it must come from within and it must be the product of more than just a few weeks of shouting as much from the rooftops.
Clearly, it is Gatland's number one priority as we head towards Saturday and clearly he has seen putting that message out into the public domain, making it the key talking point, as very much part of the process.
Putting the theme out for discussion at the end of July and developing it as the autumn series drew nearer has been Gatland's personal pet project.
His players have bought into it - or at least that's what they say.
I re-iterate, we will never know the full truth but it's been fascinating all the same.
Will all this bullish aura business actually work? Let's talk again on Saturday night.

Heavy Rain - Football's 12th man

2009-11-03T11:21:56Z

Gareth Rogers' view from the Cardiff City Stadium terraces

After sitting through 89 minutes of toil and drudgery on the football field Sunday, I was horrified but not shocked, to see the inclement weather cost my team two vital points.
After battling the elements and a tough tackling Nottingham Forest team for an entire 90 minutes, Cardiff City cruelly had the win they craved so much to take them to the top of the Championship stolen from them by a farcical equaliser.
Picture the scene from the Cardiff City Stadium on Sunday evening:
The rain had been hammering down for the entire match as fans at the front and back of the stands endured a soaking as the driving rain swirled under the roof.
Twenty two tired players, hardly visible to the 20,000 fans, had slid and slipped around the greasy surface for 90 minutes or more, with the home side holding on to a precious, if dubious goal lead, when the ball is pumped hopefully towards their area.
One defender (Mark Kennedy) goes sliding to the ground, the ball is scrambled into the box and pings off another unsuspecting defender's (Mark Hudson) heel.
After the third defender (Adam Matthews) collapsed on the waterlogged surface, the delighted Forest striker (Lewis McGugan) banged a left footer into the top corner to snatch an unlikely draw and suddenly halt a Cardiff side rampaging towards the Championship summit in their tracks.

As a Cardiff fan, devastated.
But as a football fan, oddly excited by the bizarre circumstances.
This was the blend of rotten luck and romance that keeps football fans so transfixed with the game they love.
When it happens to you, it hurts for days, but in the cold light of day, the experienced football fan realises that you will celebrate as many of these moments of madness as you will suffer and it's this glorious excitement that keeps you coming back.
In all honesty, gazing over at the ecstatic visiting supporters was like witnessing a car crash.
Horrified by what you are seeing, there is something inside all of us that burns to see more.
I guess I just wish it was me, hundreds of miles from home, hopping with joy, as my team had robbed another of their moment of glory.

Click here to see WalesOnline's match report

Dreary Magners ruining my Friday nights

2009-10-31T11:41:33Z

That's two weeks in a row now that I have settled down in my local pub to watch a Magners League game and been bored out of my brain.

In case you're wondering, I was off last weekend and am working Saturday this weekend which was why I wasn't at either of the games reporting.
But not being there, watching the action amid the punters at my local the Wenvoe Arms, has been a real eye-opener. Make that eye-closer.
A week ago last Friday I sat through the Scarlets v Dragons Welsh derby, played out in front of the usual banks of empty seats (at the ground itself, not the pub).
The standard was atrocious, the lack of innovation appalling, the skill-level at best ordinary and the entertainment value non-existent.
It was a mind-numbing 80 minutes of predictability, in which neither side tried anything off the cuff, and subsequently we got a try-less bore fest that everyone in the bar dubbed a waste of time.
Fast forward seven days and there was scarcely any difference.
At the Liberty Stadium an admittedly depleted Ospreys team entertained that renowned glamour side Glasgow, and produced a 9-9 draw.
Towards the final quarter many of us in the pub had even stopped watching it. Not that we switched channels, it was just that we began talking about other things and concentrating on supping our beers safe in the knowledge we weren't going to miss anything worth seeing.
Up to that point the errors had been manifold, the rate at which penalties were given away for schoolboy offences like entering rucks from the side beggared belief.
It was turgid, sleep-inducing stuff that made you wonder why any of them bother, why we bother.
Even the Blues versus Ospreys clash at Cardiff City Stadium eight days ago was hardly a classic.
Yes there were a couple of decent tries and a vintage Martyn Williams display to warm the cockles, but nobody is going to bring out a souvenir DVD.
The night before the Ospreys-Glasgow rip-roarer, WRU chief executive Roger Lewis had been on the radio extolling the virtues of actually going to these games.
"There's nothing like going to a game in the flesh," said Mr Lewis, talking about what great occasions were there to be savoured.
I'm sorry, but on recent evidence I can't take such musings seriously.
In fact, I have yet to watch a match in this league all season that has got me remotely enthused.
I've been patient with the Magners, and I've listened to all the arguments about how it is Magners teams, not Guinness Premiership ones that have done better in the Heineken Cup of late.
I've listened to people big up the fact that it is Wales and Ireland who have won the last two Grand Slams and so that must reflect well on the Magners.
I listened last week to Warren Gatland's assetion that the Guinness Premiership is the worst he has known and could see his point.
But throwing stones at the English competition doesn't interest me. What does is the fact the Celtic version is itself dire and showing no signs of improvement.
None of the supposedly positive indicators mentioned above alter the fact that the fayre served up in this apology of a league week in, week out, is absolute rubbish.
Nothing that is being done by any team is making anyone sit up and take notice.
Matches are polluted by aimless punting up and down the field and relentless bish-bash around the fringes that doesn't trouble well organised defences.
One possible solution could be to split the league into two conferences when the Italian sides join so as to bring in the threat of relegation.
For teams to start treating this competition properly they need that kind of fear factor to give them a collective boot up the backside every now and again.
Another could be to make Heineken Cup seeding dependent on Magners League positions at the end of every season.
We're constantly told that the European contest is the only one teams care about, well, if this system were introduced then every point won or lost in the Magners would have a bearing on the tournament they all want to do well in.
That might solve one of the great problems of the Magners League, the switching on and off of intensity by sides as the mood grabs them.
It takes three defeats on the bounce to get some outfits to go at a match with any real gusto - and that's one of the things that dissuades supporters from turning up with any consistency.
If games don't matter to the teams themselves, why should they matter to paying customers?
Whatever, please can someone with clout grab hold of this problem before the Magners League becomes even more of an irrelevance than it already is.
I've wasted enough Friday night's watching garbage. We desperately need innovation - off the field as well as on it.

Team Atlantic Element

2009-10-29T18:23:58Z

View image

Atlantic here we come

2009-10-29T17:59:35Z

Hi all.
With the boat now packed up and on route to the Canaries, we can finally concentrate on our courses. As part of the requirements to row with Woodvale Challenge, we are sitting the Ocean Yacht Master course. And what a course it is! Day 2 and my head hurts!! Sure it will be worth it though. To be able to plot your position on the globe by sun moon or stars would be an amazing skill to have. And i've got 65 days at sea to practice. Cant wait! (For more info visit us at http://www.atlanticelement.co.uk)

nearly there.

2009-10-28T21:12:14Z

Hi all. Well, its been a hectic week but, against all odds, it seems we have successfully finished the boat and it is now on its way to La Gomera. Just the matter of the ocean yacht master theory course now and I think we are nearly there. Roll on the 20th Nov, our departure date!

Welcome...

2009-10-27T11:12:31Z

Hi.

I'm John Williams.

I've entered a mountain bike endurance race in Nepal next year. Due to this, I kept a personal blog to log all my training, sponsorship requests and any other information I thought of sharing.

The race itself, The Yak Attack, is over 12 days and begins in Katmandu, Nepal. I'll then ride my bike in lycra across 420km and up one of the highest mountain passes on Earth, Thorong La Pass (5,416m - Snowdon is 1,085) and all in all, will be climbing over 8,000m (5,263.16 Danny Devito's) over the 12 days. Factors such as cold, dehydration, humidity, exhaustion and (bearing in mind I'm slightly ginger (rich mahogany) and sunlight passes through my body thus revealing my internal organs like a neon-tetra) heat.

When I began to write my personal blog, I decided to write an e-mail to Ben Fogle and James Cracknell during watching their adventure 'On Thin Ice' and ask if they wanted to join me in Nepal.

Here's the e-mail;

How do,

Was watching your man on the tele box last night doing his Antarctic walk, crawl, fall, ski, camp...etc and thought to myself;'He seems like a bit of an idiot'. (Not the offensive one, idiot as in mental, crazy or bonkers - I coined that phrase waaaay before Dizzee, Dizzy, Dizee....Daisy Rascal)

So, I would cordially like to invite Ben Fogle/James Cracknell to join me in Nepal in March for a bike ride so that he can look after me, and make sure I don't do anything stupid like fall off a mountain, ride a Yak, get lost in the Annapurna's (I'll check where that is and get back to you soon*) or become involved in witch craft due to my rare blend of pale skin, a rich mahogany beard (that's right, ginger) and the ability to look terribly offensive in lycra or rubber. There are witches in Nepal right? If not, forget the above statement.

Anyway, formalities. I've entered a race called the Yak Attack - Showdown in the Annapurnas. It's a mountain bike race which involves tight clothing, padded rears and lots of climbing, near 420km of riding and 8,000m of climbing with temperatures ranging from er...warm to cold, then back to warm again. The event starts on the 8th of March and finishes on March 20th. So that's 13 days. In 2010.

Now, before Ben/James says 'YES!! I would love to join John in his lycra in Nepal', I would like to describe myself in a paragraph or so.

My name is John Williams. I'm 26. Welsh, not from North Wales where no-one understands what they say, but South. A place called Ammanford if you want to google it. And have a 32" inside leg.

I'm from a rugby background (hardly surprising I'm Welsh) and recently, over the last 3yrs become a triathlete. I have completed races from sprint (400m swim, 25km cycle and 5k run) to Olympic (1.5km swim....then double the previous distances...ish) and more recently, a Half Ironman (1.9km swim, 85km cycle and a 21km run).

I'm not vegetarian, my favorite color is red...no blue, I enjoy a good apple, I have two dogs and a girlfriend (should that be the other way round?)...I have a girlfriend and two dogs (not sure) and grew a beard to annoy my girlfriend but no the two dogs. I also ate 24 doughnuts without licking my lips a few years ago - a lot harder than it sounds.

Righto, I think that's enough about me. So, if Ben/James (I haven't put Ben down first due to favoritism, it's alphabetical) would like to join me on my trip, 'Holla back ya'll'.

Yours sincerely (with deepest regrets about mentioning 'The ginger beard'), John B Williams I have included a picture of myself so you can see what I....(obviously) look like. This could be make or break in the deal to get Ben/James onboard.

*The Annapurna's are in the attached photo; (according to wikipedia - which everyone knows can be wrong...I once edited a paragraph about a friend of mine who plays rugby professionally to include "Emyr Lewis is a professional rugby player who currently plays for Neath RFC. He has exceptionally big ears and has a gap in his two front teeth and often struggles to say the letter 'R' to the amusement to his 'wugby fwiends'".

Thanks.

I had no reply from Ben Fogle, although I was told that the e-mail was forwarded on to him. Ya right...

James Cracknell said no. (May have gone overboard on the old ginger thing....)

Anyway, in the next blog entry, I'll add more sponsorship requests and I may have an interview with Ironman UK winner, Philip Graves.

Rave safe!
John

Another Gatland wind-up?

2009-10-27T10:43:36Z

When Warren Gatland somewhat unwisely claimed his Wales players disliked the Irish more than any others last season, his attempt to score psychological points backfired spectacularly.

With the men in green on their way to Cardiff to try to clinch the Grand Slam, Gatland couldn't resist trying to set the agenda with his ill-advised remarks.
They drew indignation from the Irish boys - not to mention any number of Dublin-based pundits - and after the visitors had duly clinched their Slam, Paul O'Connell accused the man who was about to coach him on the Lions tour to South Africa of letting his ego run away with him.
Anyway, Gatland privately regretted opening his mouth in the first place, and there was a sense that he may be more cautious in future. This week's evidence suggests otherwise.
His capacity to cause a storm reared its head again with his criticism of the standard of the Guinness Premiership in explaining why he had left Sale Sharks prop Eifion Lewis Roberts out of his autumn squad.
The league is, he stated, the weakest he has known. And so playing first team rugby in it is no indication of players like the above mentioned being ready for Test rugby.
It appears Gatland has based his opinion on what he has seen thus far this season, saying he was particularly appalled at Gloucester's 35-6 capitaulation at home to Wasps.
Has he got a little ahead of himself?
Well, I'd say not, and while his Irish-aimed comments last season were counter-productive, the New Zealander rarely makes prouncements without thinking things through thoroughly beforehand.
Gatland might have taken into account the number of top England internationals currently on the sidelines injured.
He might have remembered that the economic climate has diluted the quality of foreign imports and seen clubs - like Sale - rely more on academy products.
And he might have remembered that the Magners League has itself been mind-bogglingly dire at stages this term. Last Friday's Scarlets v Dragons encounter was extraordinarily uninspiring.
But his contention that the quality of the Guinness Premiership has diminshed is accurate in my view.
I do not watch the division week in, week out, but the stuff I have caught on television has been turgid and lacking in ambition.
Fewer and fewer tries are being scored, there is way too much mindless kicking, and the old cliche that it is a forward-orientated grunting fest is starting to look like a genuine call.
There is no real stand-out side either.
Leicester are Leicester but suffer from an imagination by-pass in attack, Harlequins are suffering post-Bloodgate jitters, Bath aren't producing, Saracens are boring, Gloucester have fallen off the end of the world and London Irish, dubbed world-beaters after beating Leinster in the Heineken Cup, were exposed by the Scarlets on their own patch.
Wasps? They are decent, but nothing like what they were when Gatland was in charge three or four years ago. They barely broke sweat in thrashing the Cherry and Whites the other day.
It's up to the coaches in the Guinness Premiership to start innovating if they want to answer Gatland back in any significant way.
It's certainly a waste of time spokesmen from the Guinness quoting attendance averages and sponsorship deals. That misses the point entirely.
In a way Gatland was up to his old tricks with this observation. He knew full-well he would get a response, just as he did when he said England had "regressed" under Martin Johnson ahead of last season's Six Nations encounter.
But only the most one-eyed observers would deny he has a point this time.
Maybe it is up to the Welsh regions to take on board what he says and go into any Anglo-Welsh Heineken Cup matches that remain with a greater sense of self-belief.
Even if the Magners is hardly the blueprint of all excellence.

The changing face of football

2009-10-22T17:09:30Z

Gareth Rogers' view from the Cardiff City Stadium terraces

Two things happened this week that made me really question a modern football phenomenon that has become inevitable.
After hearing of Middlesborough's victory on Tuesday night, I turned instantly to my dad and said, "Whatever happens, Southgate will be sacked soon."
By the time I picked up my morning paper, that inevitability had already turned reality with chairman Steve Gibson citing poor crowds as his excuse for dispensing with his manager.
Moments before my prediction, I had seen Dave Jones' Cardiff City terrorise a weak Coventry team, mounting more pressure on Welsh manager Chris Coleman, who may I say, I also fear for in the coming months.
But what is more astounding, is the manner of Cardiff City's recent performances, dispensing of teams with consummate ease as they crusade towards the top of the Championship, when just a few short weeks ago, I was having similar conversations with my dad and anyone else who would listen.
Questions like "How long do you give Jones?" and "How long before the play offs are out of reach?" were being spouted by seemingly intelligent people. Well, me at least.
My point is, I, along with millions of others, have fallen victim to this disposable society that exists in football, where the default setting to solve any problem is to dispense with the 'gaffer' immediately.
Are good football managers ten-a-penny? Is there a hidden queue of managers ready to step into the helm of the top jobs?
The answer, of course, is no.
Interesting how the Premier League's longest serving manager Alex Ferguson still holds top spot, despite the panic buying of Manchester United's city rivals.

And the Championship's longest serving manager (the very same Dave Jones) sits just one point off the top while exciting young prospects like Roy Keane and Brendan Rogers struggle at the foot.
Is there a lesson to be learned?

Click here to see our match report and live blog from the stadium

Cardiff Half Marathon - 2009

2009-10-19T12:57:48Z

Preparation - Well this wasn't the best! I choose to run the National Road Relay's the day before at Sutton Park because I really enjoy them and with a chance of winning gold for the 8th time in 9 years I put my name down and was willing to give everything for the team. As it happens Newham turned up with a great team including Mo Farah and pushed us back into second place which was still a great achievement by the team.

I got back from Birmingham about 7.30pm Saturday night and watched x-factor while eating pasta and sitting in my recovery tights in the hope of waking up with fresh legs! I got to bed about 10pm ready for the early start Sunday.

I had breakfast Sunday but my stomach was hurting a bit which I think was because I tried to eat so much to not only recovery from Saturday but fuel up for the Half Marathon that lay ahead. I was in Cardiff by 8am and heading over to the cameras for a pre arranged interview which went fine and then I went for a warm up. As soon as I started running I felt ill, by the time I got into the park I threw up! I instantly felt better but was a bit worried if racing would make me worse...to late now.

I got to the line and thought I may as well get on with it and not think about the legs to much. I went off with Mike Johnson and another welsh lad (rob) and we left the leaders go. By the barrage it was a bit breezy so we organised ourselves to take turns of 30s on the front, we caught one guy before heading back towards the city. I wasn't too bad but didn't follow mike's first break as I wasn't ready to push at 4miles, still a way to go!

I kept a decent pace all the way back to the park where we had past one Kenyan and catching another, I was now back on Mike's shoulder and still feeling good I thought a top 3 might be up for grabs. We went into the park and as one more Kenyan went by there was only Simon Lawson out in front...maybe 2nd was on now! I tried to push on and caught the last African athlete but the legs were starting to feel yesterday's effort and I was having to work a little harder than I wanted. With the 12mile marker in sight I knew if I got there with a gap I would be safe in 3rd spot.

The other two welsh lads did great and made a great race of it, I was happy with my time and glad to finish as my right foot was bleeding due to the rubbing on the toes and between today and yesterdays effort I wanted a nice glass of coke!

Thanks to everyone who shouted for me (even runners going the other way on the barrage) and well done to Simon for winning in a great time for such a young guy.

1st - Simon Lawson - 65.49
2nd - Michael Johnson - 66.04
3rd - Simon Jones - 66.39

Simx

Atlantic Row

2009-10-18T21:15:25Z

Hi and welcome to the 1st installment of our Atlantic Row Race blog. Myself and Simon will be attempting to row the Atlantic, unaided in 65 days, starting in December this year. We are hoping to raise £30,000 for the Fire Fighters Charity in the process.

Well, its been a huge effort but our Atlantic Row boat is nearly ready for shipping. All she needs is to be packed with 80 days of dehydrated food. Then she's shipped off to Tenerife ready to start the race in La Gomera.

A big thanks to all that have helped us get this far, including Ecostar clothing and Tawe Bargain Boats who gave the boat a new shiny coat of paint over the weekend.

Now its all about fundraising and training for a few weeks before the main event.

More blog coming soon!!
Mike.

Cross Country

2009-10-10T09:37:17Z

Everybody has things they hate and I am no different, in fact I probably hate things more than most with girlfriend recently even calling me the 'grumpy young man', and over the last few years I have hated cross country! I think the reason is from first experience as a youngster, I always remember the cold, rain, mud, lack of showers and even things like it being the ugly cousin of running with the lack of taste cross country runners seems to have on the whole. I remember one top running telling me "If you're a good runner you do track, if you can't do track you do road, if you rubbish at those two then you do cross country....and if your really rubbish and can't do any of the above try fell running!".

My first ever race was a cross country and as it happens it's the same course I will be doing this weekend at Bridgend, my dad wouldn't buy me spikes in case I didn't like running. It had been raining so predictably I struggled badly having to hold on to tress on a small climb as I slipped everywhere...it didn't help he put me straight into the U13's rather than the 'novice' event saying "its better to get a beating and no where you are". I came in propping up the rear of the field, it wasn't long after that I got thrown into the inter counties race (probably shouldn't have been) and came dead last out of just over 300 runners again as an U13.

Always being lightweight as well probably didn't help as bigger, stronger runners would run away with ease over sticky patches or big climbs. I was told you had to do cross country though and until 17 I didn't really have a choice but wasn't running seriously anyway. When I didn't start training properly I decided against the mud although still training through the winter, it also saved on buying spikes!

This weekend I will be taking the line at Bridgend Gwent League even though second claim clubs don't count, which seems a pointless rule as it discourages guys like myself who may want to be part of a team for the league even though I run for a London club. You would think the declining league would want to encourage more athletes to take part rather than make second club claim possible and then say you cant count for anything, I did tell the chairman this last winter and he said he would discuss it at a meeting....if you believe that though you will believe anything, and I bet he never mentioned it or even thought about it 2 seconds after I said it even though he is a Neath club member the same club I am trying to compete for!!

Will I win? Probably not but I am looking forward to it for the first time in ages, I hear some good runners will be there so if nothing else it will be a great session and at least I will know where I am and whether to bother going to some of the more important cross races.

Simx

Sam Vokes loan move hangs in the balance

2009-10-01T16:00:46Z

THE drawn-out loan move of Wolves striker Sam Vokes to Coventry City hangs in the balance.

According to the Coventry Evening Telegraph, despite constant claims from Molineux that the deal is waiting on the Sky Blues, insiders at the Ricoh Arena insist that the ball is firmly in Wolves' court.

The Premier League club are believed to have insisted that City take the Wales international for the whole season (via two half-season agreements) and allow them the option to recall him at 24 hours' notice.

They would also block him from playing in the FA Cup.

City, however, only want the 19-year-old on a 93-day 'emergency' loan.

They would then review the situation in January.

Vokes had been all set to join Derby on a season-long loan as a replacement for Rob Hulse before the transfer window closed.

But Hulse's move away from Pride Park failed to materialise and the deal was called off.

With the Sky Blues enjoying the fruits of a 12-goal partnership between Leon Best and Clinton Morrison, there is now less urgency to get Vokes in, given that he won't command a place in City's first-choice pairing.