British 10k 2010

July 12th, 2010 by admin | Posted in Running | No Comments »

At the last minute I was persuaded to take part in the British 10k by the fundraising department of the charity I work for. I normally go to provide a bit of moral support to the other runners anyway so I thought I might as well give it the full go. The only problem was that I hadn’t really trained much since I ran the London Marathon in April. Although I’ve kept my fitness reasonably high I was worried I might end up looking a bit daft in front of my colleagues.

The event itself is huge and despite the ongoing spat the organisers have with London Marathon Ltd (make of it what you will) is one of the top fundraisers of the year and a great place to start for anyone wanting to try their first 10k.

I ran the 10k in 53 minutes. This is pretty poor by my standards as my previous slowest 10k was 50 minutes and that was at the end of an Olympic distance triathlon. I was probably on for 50 until I got to about 4km. The crowds were huge and it was pretty difficult to get past people and I’m not one for pushing people out the way so I just had to “sit in” for about 3km without being able to overtake much. My fitness wasn’t up to scratch and a few of the pains I had from the marathon are still there when I run so I think I need to give myself a really long time off before I think about any more running.

tUnE-yArDs

June 30th, 2010 by admin | Posted in Music | No Comments »

I should have written something about this lady a while back especially as it was the only album I bought last year. tUnE-yArDs is Merrill Garbus an American songstress who uses the mix of lower and upper case letters in the name to ‘annoy people’. I’m slightly hesitant to describe her debut album BiRd-BrAiNs mainly because I always been pony at describing music but also because her sound doesn’t really fit into the neat little genre boxes that the music stuffed shirts always try and force everything into. Indeed, when I went to purchase said album I was met with total bemusement wherever I asked for it even though she’s on a reasonably well known label.

The album itself is home made and recorded on a cheap ass Sony voice recorder with some even cheaper ass freeware editing software. I described it to record shop bloke as ‘electronic folk’ which made him scratch his designer stubble in a thoughtful and arty farty kind of way. Her main instrument is the Ukulele and she also uses effects, drum loops (see live video below for evidence of this) and bass guitar accompaniment from her brother who sometimes performs with her live. She has an interesting voice which moves between careful whispers to some proper full lung wailing (don’t forget the yodelling) and back again.

There is certainly enough in this album to keep most people interested. The low-fi demo nature of it certainly appeals to me as it seems a bit more rough and ready then it would have been if had been recorded in a big studio. It’s one of the more interesting albums I’ve come across in a while and well worth checking out.

London Marathon 2010

April 29th, 2010 by admin | Posted in Running | No Comments »

Thanks a lot for everyone who supported me on the day and all those fantastic sponsorship people - I managed to make my £1800 target.

The London Classic film by Carwell Casswell

April 27th, 2010 by admin | Posted in Cycling | 2 Comments »

The organisers of the first ever London Classic asked me some time ago if I knew any film makers who could make a film about the ride and I was pleased to recommend Carwell Casswell whose website I had worked on recently. I think the finished film is quite awesome and captured the spirit of the event perfectly.

Film by Carwell Casswell
Music by Dave Mullarkey
Paris-Roubaix training footage supplied by Michael Barry
London Classic logo and map by Doknot

Special thanks to Brixton Cylcles for allowing the interview with Dave Mullarkey to be filmed in their workshop.
Extra special thanks to everyone who took part in the London Classic - the real stars of the show!

My pre-marathon diet

April 24th, 2010 by admin | Posted in Running | No Comments »

I just wanted to write some stuff here about the food I’ve eaten in the last week running up to the 2010 London Marathon. This week has been the best bit about the whole process as I’ve basically been eating myself silly.

This diet was heavily based on one which was given to me by a friend from an article in Men’s Health magazine, written by nutritionist Matt Lovell. I changed some bits mostly to cut out stuff I didn’t like or didn’t have to hand. I also took into account what I felt my body wanted at the time as I think there’s little point forcing yourself to eat if you don’t feel like it.

The general principle seems to be to focus more on a higher protein intake towards the beginning of the week (with smaller portions due to training tapering down) which leaves the body clear to pump in loads of carbs towards the latter end of the week. My principle before I read this article was always to “carb up” to the maximum and I think this diet was better as it left my stomach in much better shape as I haven’t been eating such a selection of weighty foods. If you’re planning to run a marathon I think you might find some of this useful!

Monday 19th April

Breakfast: Porridge oats and soya, banana
Snack: Small baked potato with beans
Lunch: Fish with vegetables
Snack: granola bar, apple
Dinner: Ginger chicken udon

Tuesday 20th April

Breakfast: scrambled eggs on toast, orange juice
Snack: Fruit salad mixed with yogurt and a bit of granola
Lunch: Chicken and chickpea in a pita with salad with some mustard and honey thrown in for good measure!
Snack: Apple and banana
Dinner: Char grilled salmon steak with broccoli and carrots

Wednesday 21st April

Breakfast: 3 egg omelette with peppers and tomato and extra cheese
Snack: Dried fruit and nuts
Lunch: Tuna salad, apple
Snack: Yogurt and fruit salad mix
Dinner: Chicken breast and vegetable stir fry

Thursday 22nd April

Breakfast: 4-5 American style pancakes with maple syrup, cream and summer fruits
Snack: Two bowls of crunchy nut cornflakes, apple
Lunch: Larges jacket potato with cheese and beans
Snack: Granola, yogurt, milk and fruit salad mix and a banana
Dinner: Spaghetti bolognaise

Friday 23rd April

Breakfast: Cheese on toast with three poached eggs on top, orange juice
Snack: Muller rice (x2)
Lunch: Large ciabatta with mozzarella and roasted vegetables
Snack: Jacket potato with cheese
Dinner: Another hefty pasta dish

Saturday 24th April

Breakfast: Egg McMuffins (x2), bowl of cornflakes
Snack: Weetabix (x2) with natural yogurt, coconut milk and sultanas and 2 bananas
Lunch: Lasagna
Snack: 6 slices of watermelon and 4 slices of toast with jam
Dinner: 2 chicken breasts with butternut squash courgettes and carotts

Sunday 25th April

Breakfast: Bowl of cornflakes with milk and a banana
90 minutes before I had a Mule Bar

During the race: SIS Go Gel (x5), jelly babies and plenty of liquids especially sports drinks.

The London Classic

April 12th, 2010 by admin | Posted in Cycling | No Comments »

The first ever London Classic took place on the 11th April 2010. Titled as “An urban cycling adventure” it pays homage to the cobbled one day pro cycling race Paris-Roubaix, where riders race across brutal sections of cobble stones in Northern France.

In much the same way the riders in the London Classic ride across many of the London’s cobbled streets over a 38 mile course. Starting and finishing in Crystal Palace, the ride takes in Covent Garden before zigzagging through the east end including Clerkenwell and Hoxton before taking on the infamous “South London Alps” on the way home. On returning to The Alma Pub the riders can then watch Paris-Roubaix on a big screen over a few beers with a generous selection of cycling goodies raffled off for good measure.

The whole thing was the brain child of “our kid” (I’m unashamedly proud of this fact) with some of his buddies from Brixton Cycles Cycling Club. With generous support from Brixton Cycles Co-op and the Flemish Representation in the UK amongst others they made a discussion over a few beers into a reality. It took a hell of a lot of hard work and research just to plan the route and then there were so many other things which had to be done to organise a ride for 200 people. A number of people volunteered to help make it a reality with all the profits raised being donated to Evelina Children’s Hospital. In the end the event itself raised £3401.07.

One of the main aims of the event was to involve as many different types of cyclists as possible. The tough nut roadies were there in lycra but so were people riding fixed gear bikes, commuters, people on folding bikes and even a recumbent! One of the best things was to see so many people who rarely cycle dust of their bikes and get involved for the day.

Due to my intense marathon training I wasn’t able to take part but I hope to next year. The organisers intend to change the route around to keep things fresh for 2011. I think this event has added loads to cycling in London - I can’t think of many cycling events in London with such wide appeal which is run to raise money for a worthy cause.

On the day I myself was assisting a film crew from Carwell Casswell who were making a promo about the ride (more later about that) as well as Louise Heywood-Shiefer who was the official event photographer. This mostly involved fetching cups of tea and coffee while the creative people got on with their jobs!

Covent Garden photo by Nick Mansley
All other photos by Louise Heywood-Shiefer

I’m afraid I don’t like Brad Pitt much

March 24th, 2010 by admin | Posted in Running | No Comments »

Actually to be technical about this it’s actually the character Achilles Pitt plays in Troy that has been getting on my wick of late. I’ve never met Brad and I’m sure he’s a lovely fella and that beard he is currently sporting has made me laugh so.

In the same way that Duncan Bannatyne encapsulated my frustration over my Achilles tendon injury which stopped me running the London Marathon last year the smug, pouting, cardboard cutout poser Achilles has been taking the brunt of my anger as the same injury seemingly reared its head again. He’s supposed to be this tough guy but he looks far more interested in his highlights and jumping on a sun bed than getting in a ruck. In the same way this injury is almost a non event as there seems no obvious reason why I have been unable to run distances I normally take for granted.

The last few weeks have been pretty bleak on the training front. I’ve been unable to run more than 5km without that familiar pain around the left ankle which has left my physiotherapist somewhat mystified. I’ve been pretty worried that history is repeating itself.

As well as this I’ve had a pretty bad throat infection for nearly three weeks which had meant that I haven’t been able to exercise much. I was due to run the Sparks Half Marathon at Dorney Lake on the 13th March but I had to pull out as I wasn’t up to it. This winter has seemed to have been going on for about five years and it’s hardly surprising that my already stretched immune system is struggling to fight things off.

Luckily after some advice from my local running shop I decided to give an osteopath a try. After a pretty painful consultation he declared me ‘fixed’ in the short term and I have been able to run without any problems since - touch wood (Brad’s acting maybe?). Achilles lurks in the background pouting away like a crazy for the time being but as I write, there is still a fair chance I can finish this marathon.

A Wordpress blog theme for Ross Casswell

March 12th, 2010 by admin | Posted in Interweb | No Comments »

Earlier in the year I worked on a website for an independent film production company called Carwell Casswell. The company founder Ross Casswell asked me to help him rework his own personal site as well.

Ross had a clear idea that he wanted the site to be a blog where he could talk about his film work in more detail with behind the scenes stuff to give a bit more background for people interested in the company’s films. He also wanted the blog to be a creative outlet (hence the name - A Creative Blog) for some of his writing or rumblings as he calls them. He also comments on amusing headlines he sees in the media from time to time.

Much like with the Carwell Casswell site Ross had a very clear visual idea of what he wanted. He wanted the look to be pretty simple and the style to subtly echo the Carwell Casswell site with the use of some of the same fonts and colours. He also (wisely) chose Wordpress as his preferred blogging platform.

To create the theme I used the White as Milk theme by Azeem Azeez as the basis. I had to tweak quite a lot styles and positioning to make it closer to what Ross wanted it to look like - you can see this easily enough by comparing the two themes. If want to compare the code Firefox users can see the differences by using the firebug plugin or if you use chrome you can check the CSS through the Web inspector panel (right click on something and then choose ’inspect element’). Both tools came in very handy on this project!

Love Run 10k 2010

February 13th, 2010 by admin | Posted in Running | No Comments »

As a build up to the London Marathon in April I decided to take part in the ‘Love Run’ in Battersea Park. The event is organised by Action Duchenne a charity which hopes to raise awareness of Duchenne muscular dystrophy and gets its name as it’s normally held on the nearest weekend to Valentine’s Day. Action Duchenne hold similar events in Newcastle, Cardiff and Manchester on the same day as the London run.

The course is pan flat and made up of 4 2.5km laps of the park. The start is in a different part of the loop from the finish line so it made it really difficult to work out how well or badly I was doing based on my ‘lap’ times. I’m actually still a bit confused as to the course distance even now - I think it was closer to 10.5km.

The start line had distance markers saying lap1 - 2.5km, lap 2 - 5km, lap 3 - 7.5km. As I came past this marker at the end of lap 1 my watch said I had covered 2.5km in 10 minutes which is very quick by my standards. Probably a bit too quick as I felt pretty bad during the second lap as I think the picture on the right shows!

I started to feel better but not exactly brilliant on lap three. When I saw the even more confusing 9.5km marker I really put the hammer down which almost went a bit wrong when I thought I was going to throw up in sight of the finish line.

I crawled across the line pretty slowly in the end with an unofficial time of 48:12. I had decided to wear my timing chip on my watch strap which I think was too far away from the electronic mat which you run over to record your time. The conventional wisdom is to tie the chip to your shoe laces. I didn’t appear on the results list even as a non finisher.

I decided to run with my now traditional head band which attracted approving glances and sniggers in (roughly) equal measure. I’m a big convert to the practicality of the head band as well as the look although I won’t be wearing it for the marathon as I have something a bit special planned instead…more later on that.

New website for Carwell Casswell

January 30th, 2010 by admin | Posted in Interweb | No Comments »

Recently I was approached by Carwell Casswell a London based film production company, who were looking to develop a new website. Being film makers they had a pretty good idea of what they wanted visually so my role was to turn their mockups into a working website. Their business is producing high quality films including documentaries, music promos, corporate films and their own selection of shorts. They wanted a simple, smart website which wasn’t too content heavy as they didn’t want to detract from their business - the films.

I must admit it was refreshing to work with creative people who are not from a web background. The white postcard layout with a right aligned vertical menu are not things which would have occurred to me but it does lend a fairly unique feel to the site which otherwise might have been lost with something more conventional. The other plus side was that with limited space available on each page it kept the content simple.

Building the website was fairly simple as I didn’t have to work through a number of visual ideas for them to pick from. This speeded things up. The menu was the main tricky part as they wanted a really smooth animated effect and I felt that Flash should not be used as there would be nothing worse than some users without the correct plug-in being unable to navigate the site. In the end I used a jQuery effect called easing.

Making the jQuery compatible with all browsers was not all plain sailing especially Internet Explorer 6. Although IE6 is a bit of a dinosaur there are still many people in large organisations using Windows XP where it comes as the default browser, so it can’t be ignored just yet. The menu didn’t work at first in IE6 but I’m very grateful to Karl Swedberg for pointing out a stray comma (which shouldn’t have made any difference I might add) in my code which launched it into life.

I also advised them that the films themselves should be stored on a third party video site (they chose Vimeo) rather than hosting the videos on the site itself. They wanted to offer HD quality and if they hosted themselves they might have problems with users not having the correct plug-in or the video taking an age to buffer. The Vimeo server is going to be faster than their own (and save them precious bandwidth) and there is also the added benefit of having the films on Vimeo itself where more people can see and enjoy them.

You can see a documentary Carwell Casswell made with the Nairobi Orphan Project above outlining the predicament orphans face in the Kibera slums, Nairobi.