Monday 20 March 2017

COUNTDOWN TO THE LONDON MARATHON 2017 - PART 4

In my last Countdown to April 23 2017 blog, I had managed 15 miles of  continuous running. I had reached the edge of inner Mousehole but had not yet got to the very heart of the port with its wonderful harbour views. And now - as of yesterday, Sunday 19 April, I have!

Mousehole - an idyllic Cornish harbour - in the distance the stretch of the run from Penzance to Marazion


But there was a glitch in the week before with no long run on Sunday 12 April. After a strenuous short hill run in very windy conditions, I developed a familiar sensation in my lower back that meant I had to switch to a routine of self-treatment - a combination of rest and walking and back rack exercises - for a few days, with a session as normal  from my physiotherapist, Ben Donaldson and an extra session with my chiropractor, Tanya. By Wednesday of last week I was fit enough to get another run on my local circuit under my belt - 3.5 miles  in a fast for me 34 minutes - followed  by a good gym session on Thursday. And then on Sunday I returned to the long run from Marazion out to Mousehole and back.

Here's a copy of my post on the Sally Army marathon runners website that I posted after the run yesterday.


'I'm back running and training! My chiropractic treatment on Tuesday confirmed my recovery from the lower back glitch and I had a successful and quite fast local and hilly circuit run on Wednesday (3.5 miles in 34 minutes), followed by a good gym session on Thursday. Today I set out from the Marazion car park with the desire to run for 160 minutes without stopping. The first 45 minutes saw


Monday 6 March 2017

COUNTDOWN TO THE LONDON MARATHON 2017 - PART 3

Another month gone - five more Sunday morning long runs under my belt since the last blog - see this link for Part 2 of the Countdown to the London Marathon 2017 series. I note I wrote and posted on Saturday February 4 2017 which was actually the day before I switched from my local circuit runs to the largely flat route from Marazion heading west to Penzance and then Newlyn and on to Mousehole and eventually beyond - and returning when I reached the set time for that week.

Here's the history of the progress so far:

Marazion car park to Newlyn town sign - 50 minutes and return in 53 minutes and then running around Marazion to get to the target time of 110 minutes (and 45 seconds) - Sunday 5 Feb.

Marazion car park to just past Newlyn - 60 minutes (aiming for a target time of 120 minutes of continuous running) and then returning to the car at 129 minutes (and 45 seconds) after taking a

St Michael's Mount from Marazion - always the object of desire on the return journey.


wrong turn on the coastal foot path - doh! - Sunday 12 Feb.

Marazion car park to almost the outer limit of Mousehole - 65 minutes - and then turning round and returning to Marazion and the car in 130 minutes and 40 seconds - Sunday 19 Feb.

Marazion car park to inside the outer reaches of  Mousehole - 70 minutes - and then back to Marazion and the car in 137 minutes and 32 seconds. Very fierce wind in my face running out from Marazion that lengthended the journey to Newlyn by three minutes - the wind was on my back on the return journey - Sunday 26 Feb.

Marazion car park to just before the centre of Mousehole in 75 minutes (still  a strong head wind in


Thursday 2 March 2017

JEREMY CORBYN IS A VERY DANGEROUS MAN

'He will have to go.'

It could be a Tory talking - a member of the 1% who control so much of our society's wealth and power and who sees a socialist vision as anathema - a deadly threat to their social and political interests.    .

Or it could be a member of the Parliamentary Labour Party - a Labour M.P. - since a majority of the PLP remain convinced that Labour will never be returned to power advocating socialist policies under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn whose declared manifesto for the next election, in 2020 or earlier, is based on ten pledges to secure socialism for the 21st century - see my three blogs using this link for the first blog and accessing the other two blogs from there.    

Those who directly represent the interests of the 1% are united in their determination to destroy Jeremy Corbyn as a political force. They mock him. They ridicule him. But in doing so, they betray


Jeremy Corbyn - leader of the Labour Party in the UK


their fears. The former Conservative Chancellor, Kenneth Clarke, warned in an interview with the Huffington Post that Mr Corbyn's brand of left-wing populism would be hard to campaign against. It was not certain he would lose an election. He is quoted: "If you have another recession or if the Conservative government becomes very unpopular, he could win"  - see p,140 in 'The Road to Corbyn' by Rob Donovan (2016) using this link.

Those who are members of the Parliamentary Labour Party - or who are like-minded members of local constituency Labour groups - and are still wedded to the ideology of New Labour and believe in Tony Blair's abandonment of socialism as the passport to election success - face an existential crisis. Their Party lost in the General Elections of 2010 and 2015 despite following the New Labour