London & Taiwan

Well, my target is looking distinctly distant as I continue to miss days running in favour of eating and drinking!

Even coming and writing in this blog seems an over-difficult task and therefore I must have forgotten some runs between the last time and now.

Let's say the figure was still 553 before I went to the UK. I only managed a dismal 3 runs there despite the lovely cool air and leafy parks a-beckoning. 11Km in Weston-Super-Mare, 11km in Green Park and probably 12km in Hyde Park leave, er ... 520km.

Now, I got a bit more focussed back in Bangkok and even did a 6, 9, 12 and 18km build up. That's a further 45km off the tally to leave 475km to go before November 23rd.

Only one run in Taiwans lovely Forest Park in the middle of Taipei shaved a further 11km off the total, which leaves 464km.

So .... I will try, try try, to muster up the will-power to do a further 45km before I'm off to Bali in Indonesia for this year's final Connecting Classrooms Contact Seminar. There I must change my attitude and come back fit and a bit brown if there are any occasions to take in any sun! In other words, can I possibly manage to run 119km in 8-9 days?

We shall see!

September 21st

So here we are, nearly into October already and the good news is that Arsenal are top of the Premier League, I've jsut had good results from my latest blood tests and I think I might be on target to have ran 1000km by 23rd November.

If I had 645km to go last time I blogged which was 10 days ago, then I have to deduct 24km from Thursday 11th & Friday 12th then 8km on Saturday 13th followed by 60km last week, which leaves ...

553km.

I am attempting 15km a day from tomorrow which will leave 493km after Thursday then I leave for the UK on Friday. I will then run 15km a day, for 6 days from Sunday 28th to Saturday October 4th, when I might enter a 10km race in Battersea if I feel like I might not be completely embarrased by the rest of the field.

Then we are into October and I'm kind of busy but I've got to somehow run 300km.

We shall see ....

Around and around

The park I go, attempting to get myself fit enough to run 42.125km on the 23rd November.

I think I am under the last blog's target as I only ran 6km on Thursday and zero on Friday due to using the fact that it was raining a lot as a poor excuse to go and drink some nice cans of Singha!

However, with slight hangover on Saturday, I dragged myself out onto the pavement of Ratchadapisek and ran 8km. It hammered down on the way back and I got drenched which is a kind of message that it is the rainy season so no more lame excuses foe not putting in the miles.

15km in the train drivers' park on Sunday, 12km in Jatujak yesterday and another 12km today. Am I back on taggart?


I'll have to add it up. 53km leaving 645km. Ahead of taggert! Brilliant - I am inspired to continue running 12km a day for the rest of the week with another 15km on Friday then rest for 2 days.

Here's what is keeping me from running straight to the nearest 7-11

Unrest in Bangkok

While the well-reported unrest is going on in Bangkok in a typically Thai way - I haven't really noticed any change in atmosphere in the city except a few ids dressed as soldiers guiding the traffic the other morning, I have returned to the Big Mango and am now circumnavigating Jatujak Park with increased regularity at 18:15 every evening.

Well, three evenings this week so far.

I did manage 11km on the treadmill of the Amari Plaza Hotel in Hanoi but no more there. That is now added to 21km I've run in the park which leaves, er, 698km. I keep missing my targets but I aim to do 9km tomorrow and 21km on Saturday. That will take me down to 668km.

I then have 2 and a half weeks till I go to London on business so I aim to bring the total down to 564 by then. The missable target will be:

Tuesday 9th - 6km
Wednesday 10th - 9km
Thursday 11th - 9km
Friday 12th - 12km
Saturday 13th 21km
Tuesday 16th - 6km
Wednesday 17th - 9km
Thursday 18th - 9km
Friday 19th - 12km
Saturday 20th 21km
Tuesday 23rd - 6km

I would then try to run 64km in London and come back needing to do 350km in October - a difficult feat given that I have to be in Taiwan and Indonesia but nothing, they say, is impossible.

Over and out!

Back in Hanoi!

I'm in Hanoi again - seems to be my second home for the past couple of months! This is the third leg of my work here to support Vietnam colleagues work on the project I manage - Connecting Classrooms.

We were in Ho Chi Minh City yesterday from Saturday and before that, Danang in the centre of the country.

I really will add some photos and info and links and stuff and spend a good few hours updating the entries soon (!!) but for now I must go for a run in the hotel gym. It's midday so it is too hot outside and I've got to the stage where I think I need to run every day until November if I'm to crack the 1000km target!

Anyway, up to Danang I was 794.8km - 28km which leaves 766.8km, which is a bloody lot!

In Danang I ran by the river and was joined by a charming young thing called Lan who spoke a bit of English - my first, 'social running' experience!

I guess I probably did about 4.8km then so down to 762km. Then in HCMC I did 5km on the treadmill in the hotel and an estimated 9km from the hotel to the park, around 8 times and back. I also did another 5km in the hotel and I'm just about to do a 10km run here so it will be down to - 731km.

My plan must be to do another 11 tomorrow then 20 on Sunday followed by 300km in September if I am to get anywhere near my target.

I'm going to have to get serious!

A few more kilometres

I have time to Blog but I can't seem to get round to it. I do need somewhere to record my running though and as I've started here, I'll carry on using it.

I'll delete this later and add something more interesting, at least to me!

28 more kilometres to report over the past few weeks - pretty poor but I'm going to try to make amends!

Sapa, Hanoi again, Dong Hoi, Lao Bao, Dansavanh and Savannakhet

Since my last Blog entry, I've come down from the foothills of North Vietnam, back to Hanoi for a bit of a rest and then down to Dong Hoi, which is near Danang in the centre of Vietnam.

Dong Hoi was a bit of a let-down and unless you really have to go there for a very good reason I would recommend avoiding it.

Sapa, on the other hand, was truly awesome - a really beautiful place with very friendly people and amazing views, crystal clear waters and clean air.

I've pasted in the photos to the right of this blog and the one on here is me, dressed in traditional Red Zhao gear with my 'wife'.

I'll blog some more soon about how we got from Dong Hoi to Ubon Ratchathani via public bus for 510 baht.

Meanwhile I'd better also record that I am still running regularly and recently clocked up the following:
10 km – Lake in Hanoi
6km lake in Sapa
11km lake in Sapa
10km lake in Hanoi
9km in Savannakhet
7km in park in Ubon and I am about to do another 7km around the lake in Ubon so that will be a total of 60km which will take me down to 794.8km with 3 and a half months to go.

Foothills of Sapa

After finishing my work in Hanoi, I went to Halong Bay for an internal meeting for three days. Now I'm not particularly a fan of meetings as such, but my Vietnamese colleagues or new 'sisters' as we spent the better part of two weeks together working, made sure that everything was just perfect.

The highlight for me, apart from meeting up with the 'team', who are all lovely people, was dinner on Monday night in the 'Bay.

I made a little video of the snaps I took that evening and hope to receive some more photos. A really beautiful place and a splendid evening. Most conducive to producing some hard work the next day in our second day of sponsorship training!

I've also added the video of the cyclo tour and puppet show in Hanoi - great stuff!

While in Halong Bay, I managed to run a bit, although it was very humid and knocked off another 14km and another 10 when back in Hanoi by going around the lake 5 times.

That deducted from 878.8km leaves 854.8km.

Later, I'll blog about Sapa, in the North of Vietnam, which is where I am now.

Let me take you by the hand ...

... and lead you through the streets of Hanoi, I'll show you something, to make you change your mind.

I'm in Hanoi this week for work - I like my job very much but it is very hard work yet offers some wonderful opportunities to see places I otherwise would not.

One of them is Hanoi and the video below is a little taster of the more exciting parts of this week in the capital city of Vietnam.

I needed to come here more to update my running schedule before I lose count of the KMs and need to run more!

About 8 in an aborted attempt to run around the big lake, 7 on Saturday in a successful attempt to run around the small lake, 6 the day before I flew here, 12 after a long run in the week and at least one run of 6km somewhere else. I think there might be more but my fault for not keeping tabs.

That's 41 since last count which brings me down to 878.8km to go. I won't be doing any today or tomorrow so Saturday will have to be a 20km run to make up and then more long runs while on holiday for the rest of this month.

The video is still uploading to Youtube so I'll post it later.

Champions!!

I'm handing over to my trusted friend Ron Snail who criminally in this day and age doesn't have a column in a major fantasy newspaper. He's here to tell it how it happened in the parallel universe of what is the CoB Intercontiliga Euro - basically a world which everyone who's ever needed a life dreams of being a part.

----------------------------
By Ron Snail
----------------------------

Cosmos claimed their second major title in 2 years after winning the CoB Intercontiliga Euro 2008 with a deserved victory over their rivals.

Liverpool striker Fernando Torres was Chao Praya's goal hero, striking after 33 minutes when he cleverly lifted a through pass over Cosmos keeper Jens Lehmann.

Cosmos dominated the final throughout, with Torres heading against the post and Marcos Senna almost adding a second from close range after 80 minutes.

Michael Ballack came close for some other teams, but Cosmos couldn't afford him after experimenting with the moody three-time loser, shooting narrowly wide after the break.

Panaya Park DEBATE

I'm delighted that the best team, playing the best football in one of the best tournaments ever, wins it

Alan

This was a richly-merited victory for veteran coach 'The Gift of Yahweh' and a team that played outstanding football throughout the tournament.

Match-winner Torres enhanced the reputation he forged at Chao Praya Cosmos and virtually every other team in the CoB Intercontiliga last season, but this was an all-round effort for a side that is young enough to already be marked down among the favourites for the 2010 Virtual World Cup in South Africa. Who would bet against 'The Gift' making it three in a row and possibly going down as the greatest big-occasion fantasy manager of all time?

Andres Iniesta would have almost created the opening goal for Cosmos in the 13th minute had he been in the side when his driven cross didn't take a deflection off Christoph Metzelder, also nit in the in the same side, but Lehmann pulled off a fine reflex save.

And they came even closer nine minutes later when Torres rose to a cross, but his header bounced to safety off the post.

But he was not to be denied and put the Cosmos Euro outfit ahead with a trademark piece of sharpness in front of goal after 33 minutes.

Torres shrugged the too expensive Lahm off the ball to lift a superb finish beyond his own keeper Lehmann.

Those who had put faith in the overpriced loser's problems threatened to worsen when Ballack needed lengthy treatment for an eye wound after a clash of heads with Marcos Senna, a snip at 4.5 million fantasy Euros and the only bloke Gift could afford as a final jigsaw piece once an auxilliary computer had been rushed to Panaya Park from a nearby room.

David Silva then wasted a perfect opportunity to double Cosmo's advantage when he rushed his finish and shot wildly over the top.

Cosmos continued to look the more threatening side, but there was still the lingering prospect of their leaving it too late to garner the points needed from this last game yielding an unlikely equaliser.

Ramos should have ekualised for the rivals' after 66 minutes when he headed straight at Lehmann from point-blank range as he got on the end of Xavi's free-kick. That point combination might have been the difference from a one point victory for 'The Gift's' talented side made up entirely of Spaniards and German's but it wasn't to be.

Iniesta then had a shot cleared off the line by Torsten Frings - another late signing by the gift and another effort saved by Lehmann as Cosmos looked in the mood to add a second. The tactics were perfect as Cosmos toyed with Comos in wave after wave of attack, knowing that an extra goal for themselves would might have consigned them to second or third spot. The defence of their own attack was instinctive.

And Cosmos had a remarkable escape after 80 minutes when substitute Daniel Guiza, possibly a geezer for another team - on for Torres - headed the ball straight into Senna's path right in front of goal, but he could not apply the final touch. Had Senna scored who know's if Cosmos defence could have coped with the loss of more points for their two german defenders.

Cosmos were not made to pay for their generosity in front of goal and ran out worthy winners.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cosmos: Lehmann, Jansen (46), Marchena , Mertesacker, Silva, Frings, Schweinsteiger, Senna, Fabregas, Podolski, Torres
Subs Not Used: Van Persie, Panucci, Pepe, Runje
Booked: Torres.

A Korea move

I was in Seoul, Korea for the past week with a group of people from the UK, Korea and Taiwan. While it was for work I still had a little time to enjoy this facinating city of technology and nice people.

I also managed to pretty much stick to my running plan and between Sunday and Thursday knocked off another, er .... 12+7+3.2+8km = 30.2km. That means there are 928.8km still to go and I should be able to complete the first 100 of those some time this week.

I went out this evening and only managed another 9km as it was remarkably hot and I wasn't feeling too great - I would much prefer to run in the relative cool and much more pleasant surroundings of the stream that runs through Seoul but for now I can only look at a picture of it and imagine that nice breeze!

At least I had Charlie to keep me going



919.8km to go.

The day after the day after ...

Still here despite the track record. Managed to knock 21 km off the total over the past three days. The last two were different as it was impossible to get on the train due to the masses of pseudo-middle class socialists trying to get rid of the government that the majority of apparently illiterate farmers voted in. Seemed alright for 4 or 5 years before Thaksin did an Adolf Hitler but it seems the Bangkokians have their tails in the air.

Anyway, now is not the place for defending farmers even if I have aspirations of becoming one and the often proudly announced literacy rate in Thailand is 96% (more much later) and just wanted to say that the 21km were achieved by pounding Ratchadapisek which was alright for the previous 2 marathons so should be ok this time.

960km to go. Piece of cake. Please.

A bit more ...

I couldn't run yesterday as it was hammering it down with rain when I got home and therefore the traffic was a nightmare - bad Bangkok traffic is not a good atmosphere to run in.

I was at the hospital in the morning getting a blood test and X-Ray. I'm trying to stop being a workaholic but nevertheless I still managed to be checking my emails as I was waiting for the results. One of them left me in a state of shock and rather upset. An ex-colleague of mine who I only knew a little had died of cancer this Saturday gone. She was a lovely woman and as far as I know had only had been battling the disease for a year. I think she had a young family and she was certainly quite a bit younger than me. It's really sad news and I feel for her family.

Could've been me instead of her, but as it happens, I am still in remission and go back for another test in September. The news shook me up for the rest of the day.

Anyway, back to today and i ran in the park and then walked home which adds up to 7km which is now 981km to go with 158 days to go which is an average of just under 6km/day.

A bit scary really and the more I blog here and on other sites the more I'm going to have to see it through! I'm going to have to get more songs for my MP3 player but for now here's my favourite of tonight's run. Who said Elvis was dead?

12 down, 988 to go ...

Well one of the hardest parts is over - the first 12 km. Admittedly it was a walk/run/walk/run job but nevertheless felt good to be back pounding the pavements of BKK again.

2 bananas kept me going as I had heard on the radio on Saturday that they contain three types of sugar and enough energy for 40 minutes, which seemed to do the trick although the 12km took nearly 2 hours.

I know it's slow but I forced myself to walk every part I planned to walk as I have a lot of time and a lot of distance to cover between now and November 23rd.

Plenty of time to think along the way and I thought it'd be a good idea to see if I could raise some money for a good cause. How about a grand? A thousand quid could be very useful for someone so I'll see what I can do over the next few weeks to get people signed up to giving over their hard-earned cash in 5 month's time.

Only 5km to do tomorrow but I might go for 6 as I've somehow got to 'find' an extra 36km
from somewhere according to my plan, which I'll post tomorrow when I come back.

I'm also going to have a look at Buddhism to see if there are any tips for sticking to one's plan and not falling to the wayside of procrastination!

I need an appropriate song. Er ...

1000km - 10KG

I have decided, yet again I might add, to do something about my procastinatory approach to life.

A few years back, I managed to train for and complete the Bangkok Marathon which I repeated the following year. Last year, however, I had the convenient excuse of having major surgery followed by six-months of chemotherapy and radiation. It hasn't stopped others but I guess I don't quite fall into that category.

Anyway, one year and 6 days from that turning point in my life - I was still in hospital this time last year, and came out a trim 5 kilos lighter than I went in.

Alas I have managed to put it all back on plus more and it really is about time I got it together to get fit again. I'll excuse myself the indulgence of the past six-months of doing bugger all after finishing the post-op treatment but now it's got to stop!

So, I have set myself the target of either running or walking 1000km between now and the next Bangkok marathon, which is on November 23rd. I will save the final 42.195km for that day and have theorised that I could also lose 10kg in the process.

By blogging about it here and exposing myself to ridicule as usual, I hope to use this as an incentive for achieving my goals.

Over and out and it's off to JJ market to kill some time looking at things I don't want to buy!

Cool online music players

I skipped a week last week and as there isn't a great deal to blog about at the moment, I have been checking out music that you can listen to on the internet.

So I was doing a Google search and stumbled upon a cool website called www.finetune.com where ther is loads of music and stuff and you can create your own playlists by search for existing streaming music that is already out there.

I registered to the site and now I am going to try to create a playlist that I will then attempt to embed in here.

Here goes ...

Takes a while to find the tracks but once completed, I think it might be worth it!

You can see it in the menu on the left. Pretty cool, uh?

Orchids and Keegan

When you live near to the largest outdoor market in Asia, or so it is claimed, then there is always something you can spend your money on unnecessarily.

Today, I bought a pair of Vanda Orchids which you can see in the picture and it is now my challenge to try to keep them alive on my balcony, which probably won't be easy as orchids can be sensitive fellows, according to those in the 'know'.

In a totally unrelated incident early this week, we saw the return of 'King Kevin' to the Toon Army helm. Apparently this came as a bit of a shock as it seemed our, 'Kev' was perfectly content running a soccer 'Circus' up in Glasgow or somewhere. I suppose a few million quid a year must of tempted the Scunthorpe native away from the dwarves and llamas.

Keegan incidentally translates in Laotian as 'Khee Ghan' or 'hard shit' which is what it'll be if Newcastle invariably go on to continue their miserable form this season.

I personally, would, 'luv it'!

Frank Beckham?

I was amused by David Beckham's recent statement regarding the pedigree of Britain's current Prime Minister, Gordon Brown.

Beckham (BBC Tuesday, 8 January 2008, 20:02 GMT) describes brown as, "a very good man, he's a man who's looking after our country and he's doing a very good job."

Thank goodness for that then! We could do with a man like him here in Thailand!

His charming innocence reminds me of a similarly talented yet simple-minded young man named Frank Spencer.

Also pleased to be able to finally add a Flickr thingy to the side of this Blog. Recent photos are from a great winter break in Korea that I mentioned in my previous entry last week.

New Year in Korea

2008. A New Year and this time I was in Korea to see it in! Actually I was in Suanbo, a hot spring resort in the middle of South Korea, which also happens to have a tiny yet charming ski resort one km up the road called Sajo

Had a great day of skiing on New Year's Eve with relatively uncrowded slopes and fortunately I had not forgetten how to stay on my skiis after over 7 years of winter sports inactivity. The equipment was quite short Head skiis which really made it easy to turn which was useful as one of the slopes was quite steep.

A lot more to talk about concerning this trip as it was really interesting and fun and I have a load of photos to upload.

For now though, enjoy this 'K-Pop' hero I encountered on Korean TV in a Seoul guesthouse.

There's something about him!