Author: Buck

After my last post, worrying about not getting any work, it’s been all hands to the pumps. I went in New Year’s day then they texted me the next day asking could I make it in ASAP, I did and that was that, non-bloody-stop since. I had one day off last week after 5 days, then worked 6 days this week. Not very many hours per shift unfortunately, but at least by being available at the drop of a hat I’m getting the shifts. I was talking to one driver and he said he’d only got 2 shifts in the week, they’d cancelled him on all the others. It might be a coincidence but after I couldn’t make it in that Sunday (‘cos they hadn’t asked me and I was in the middle of a 22 mile run) I didn’t get any work for 9 days. I did them a favour and I’m in every day the law allows. Which reminds me, there’s a manager at work who is a complete tool. One of those who has to be at the centre of everything. I asked the drivers if I have on day off in week (reduced weekly rest) can I then work 6 shifts before taking the requisite compensatory rest. They were debating it when he butts in “5 shifts, two 11 hour rests. End of!” This is utter bollocks. The law says weekly rest is 45 consecutive hours, or reduced rest of at least 24 hours, once in a fortnight, to be made up in full the next week. 11 hours is the full rest on a standard day (can be reduced to 9 hours, 3 times a week.) Then when I was filling in my duty sheet he pulled me over my breaks. Told me just to put that I’d had 45 minutes, not the 1 hour 20 I’d been waiting. Work stop you half an hour a day for breaks, the rest is for your Working Time Directive. By the WTD law you can only work 60 hours maximum in a week, 48 hours average. The way driving firms get around it is by using Period Of Availability and breaks, neither of which count as ‘work’. So I can only drive for 9 hours a day (10 on two days) but if I’m sat around waiting to be loaded I can be at work for 15 hours a day. But only ‘work’ for, on average, for say 10.30. This is all driver crap that is of no interest to anyone else, none to the driver either, truth be told. I only mention it to explain when he told me to alter my break (“we prefer you to use ‘break’ because POA cuts into your WTD hours.” Wrong.) he was limiting the amount of hours I could work. Work must be using the WTD bit on the sheet to keep a track of how many hours you do that count as ‘work’. By altering it I’m going […]

It seemed adding long runs was the answer to everything. I did one 22 mile run, rested, ran for a whole hour at race pace. I did another, rested, ran for an hour and a half at race pace! Incredible! I was so pleased. My training had gone from 4 miles race pace then stopping for rests to 13 miles non-stop in the space of a week. You’ll note the past tense. I tried for another 22 mile run the day after and my knees and shins were killing me. I gave up and turned around at 4½ miles. It was painful and slow and I was worried that I was going to sustain a serious injury. I suppose upping my mileage by 40+ miles in a week and smashing my endurance/ speed records was pushing it a bit. Ho hum. I’ve rested for 3 days, I’ll try another run tomorrow. I’ll do a faster hour on the tready.  I know I can do a half marathon at marathon pace (smashing 13 minutes off my previous best time!), now I need to get to get faster.  I was planning on *just* upping the miles I can run at race pace until I was at marathon distance but if I have to protect my knees, I’d better do shorter and faster runs for the time being. Make it so race pace is a comfortable plod. I’m a bit miffed to be honest, it seemed like I was going to be up to full marathon at race pace within a month. Now it looks like my body needs time to adjust to the extra miles. Balls. Talking of which, I was looking for this month’s Runner’s World today, I came across a magazine called ‘Men’s Running’. Fail immediately. Running is running. With the tagline “For runners with balls.” Epic fail. Then I started thinking about Chrissie Wellington, the almost unbelievable British woman who won the World Ironman (female) event three times. Each time setting a new World record. Her best Iron distance time is 8 hours, 18 minutes, 13 seconds. 8 hr, 18 min, 13 sec. 8.18:13 To swim 2.4 miles, ride 112 then run a marathon (26.2 miles). Obviously I’m just a fat old duffer, not a proper triathlete, but my best was 13.32 . I sometimes think about taking swimming lessons, really battering the bike and continuing with my sub 3hr marathon training and if I was really, really good scraping in under 10 hours. Even that isn’t likely. A woman did it in 8.18:13. Tell her that it’s a male only running magazine. To be fair there was a ‘Woman’s Running’ magazine. Presumably about the latest in pink running kit, who was dating whom in running circles, and what didn’t make your arse look big in lycra. It’s like that pink email about a women’s triathlon event. They already have them, they are called triathlon events.   In other news, work is worryingly slack. I had 3 days last […]

I’m getting there, people. My new strategy is showing real results after only 3 runs. It’s hard to get the tready time when I’m working. I did my first attempt at an hour at race pace of 6.45 m/m, managed 3 miles (3 min rest) something like 1 mile, rest, etc up to 6.25 miles in the hour. And that was tough. The next time (on tired legs) I did 2½ miles, rest, 1½ miles (at too fast speed), rest, etc  making 7 and a bit miles. Today, with legs as fresh as a daisy, I did 4 miles, 3 min rest, 2 miles, 2 min rest, 50 seconds rest a bit over half a mile. Anyway, the point is; I ran 4 miles before my first breather, then 2 miles. In total, a smidge over 8 miles in the hour. That, my friend, is progress. The best bits were the periods where I was thinking, ‘this ain’t so bad, I can keep this up all day’. Then my breathing got ragged and I was really battling to make an arbitrary point before stopping. This is also good. By saying at 20 minutes ‘keep going fat lad’ and pushing it really hard for the last 4 or 5 minutes just to keep going, I’m strengthening my legs and my willpower. This month’s Runner’s World caught my eye. I’ve bought the last two issues but each time I do, and take good stuff from it admittedly, I think I’ll probably not bother with the next one. This month’s was a marathon runner’s special. The first article I flicked to in the shop was a guy who’d run a 3.43 and was asking could he go sub 2.50. Here, take my money. Damn you, Runner’s World! He said he was running 8½ to 9 miles in an hour on his speed training day. My third attempt (with breaks so plenty of room for improvement as I condition my body to the pace) was 8 miles. The thing the expert advised was for him to build in more rest time (oh yeah, I’m all over that shit!) and one proper long run a week. Over 2 hours. Not so much about the pace at that distance, just training your body to keep going. So tomorrow morning I’m donning my running pack and doing a 20 miler. Then, if I’m up to it, speed work with my running club at the night. We’ll see. …….. Didn’t get around to finishing that post on Monday, it’s now Saturday. I took their advice and slapped in a (lamentably slow) 22 mile run. It was beastly. I put on my pack with two full water bottles and set off to Frodsham. As I’d done my new PB on the tready the day before my legs were none too cooperative. The first 4 miles I was actually considering sacking it and coming home. Then I thought I’d do it, but was still really pacing myself so I’d have […]

You might not have been able to see those link/ adverts, I can’t see them now. Turns out is was malware on my computer, not on the blog itself. Apparently the free version of Avira antivirus doesn’t protect against malware. It does a sterling, and I repeat, free job on viruses, as the name suggests, but you either have to pay for the pro or get other malware protection. Anyway, all sorted now. I think. You can stand down from blog defcon one. Cheers, Buck.

Just noticed three different words have become links on my last blog. Not sure if I can undo this, but either way, I did not post them as links and unless I actually state that I have in future, please do not click on them. Ta, Buck.