Phew! I thought I was never going to get back for the 3k track handicap with the club last Thursday.
Remember 'The Human CannonBall' thing? Well the cheeky blighter's at the Circus put in far too much gunpowder in the cannon and I ended up in another county.

Fear not, I am back to fill you in with more Fisher Facts!

Not long now till the Sale 10 in Manchester. It's going to be fast!
Flight's to Slovakia for the Marathon have been confirmed. They are pretty organised at UKA.

Last Thursday night was the club's 3k race at Carnegie over in Leeds. It was handicaped, and I set off over seven minutes behind the first off runner.
The runner I first had to catch was Otley's star runner Jamil Parapia. He bought some fancy white spikes for the occasion. So the lad mean't some business.
The race felt a bit congested in places, making it a bit hard in places to get going fully. Foolishly, earlier on I sort of fancied a 'light' Full English. Bad move, even a few hours before the event.
I could tell it wasn't my night on the strides before the race. I started off well enough but ran out off steam soon after.
Training up to the night before had been going really well. I think a little too hard the day before. I find it hard to jog to lower my heart-rate when it rises over 130 at 6 min per mile pace.
The run of the night was from Jamil. He has aimed his training over 10k stuff and his pace showed. He had good bounce in his stride. He set off 20 seconds in front and finished in 9.04, which was 8 seconds slower than my run.
I was annoyed with my run when I finished with the warm down. But knocks are good for you and wake you up a bit.

Oh, and my favourite fizzy pop is Limeade as it's quite refreshing. Just in case you wanted to ask but didn't dare.

Thaat's fizzy!

Here I am again. I will come to the training/racing part in a bit, but first....

People from all walks of life ask me what I do outside running?
Well I like to ride my bike and also like to drink fizzy pop when I'm doing a bit sketching.

But more realistically, another favourite past-time of mine is helping my foreign friend from a travelling circus. If the poor fellow has a bad headache, I step in for him and wear the coverted cap and mask of 'The Human Cannonball'.

Atlast,I'm finally going up in the world!

Now for the running bit.

This heat wave has like the rest of us hampered the training a bit. But I'm now gearing up for the fast Sale 10 mile road race in Manchester on Aug 6th. Over the last few weeks I have been getting back on the track just to get some bounce back in my step. It is working.

Main event for me is being asked by UKA to run for GB in the Kosice Marathon in Slovakia on Oct 1st. The course looks undulating, so it will suit me perfectly.

Meanwhile, back back down at club level....

Both my clubs Otley AC and second claim Idle AC staged well organised events last weekend with great success.

The Washburn Relay had a record 40+ teams turn up on the 14th. Each club enjoyed themselves. There was no elitism, just solid competition and fun. Skipton had taken the lead from start and going into the last fourth leg. We were second around 90 secs or so behind on this 3-4 mile stage. I did pass Skipton's Ian Magee towards the end and clinched VICTORY once again for Otley. Skipton do impress me with their part in relays. They should try the more serious relay's more often.

Idle AC also finished up there in the results. Their ladies team are very strong.

Last Sunday I ran for Idle in their event 'The Idle Trail Race'. This event is very well organised and good value. Friendly support from marshalls on route which takes in part of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal and surrounding woodlands. Even Ron Hill was there running for Clayton Le Moors. I was first and an U/A Jamie Noon was second. The day again was very warm. My friend and ex-coach Pete Shields won a prize in his catagory. This year included pictures of yourself at the event. There is a few shots of me doing my bit for the camera.

As you can tell by me being at complete ease in front of the lens I've done this sort of thing before.

Presentation night at Ripon tomorrow for the Harrogate League series. I wonder what Handicap I will get this time? Last year I had to run under fifthteen minutes on this 5 mile plus circuit to win it. I think I will just go there to enjoy it and maybe just maybe eat more than the human dustbin of R/Z Jon Orange.

Somehow I think I'm going to fail on that one.

Training as usual with track on Saturday with a three hour run on Sunday. All basic stuff really, but it works.

And finally,

Had a chicken Rogan josh last night at Bradford's Sweet Centre with some Ilkley Harriers and Wharfdale's premier club (Otley of course). Tasted nice but far to many tomatoe's.

I had a couple of Shami's to begin with, but I was dissapointed that they couldn't supply me with a plate of onions bargies and a medium donna (also for starters).

Keep your comments commin'

Sorry for any spelling mistakes. Vivid imagination but that's about it.