Thanks Helen, It would be hard to match the literary prowse, wit and life experiences of the maestro of mirth but I shall try.

And whilst we are on the subject, Martin, with all your knowledge of Chi, hills and women in pink, I have this vision of you sitting cross legged on the aforesaid hill in an orange robe looking windswept and interesting, finger bells on one hand and declaring to those passing in pink, "that's not the way to run grasshopper, the wind is your friend except to those behind you !!"

Tell me it's not true.

Well I'm back into the 10k races after the Covenrty HM and the Burton 10 mile a couple of weeks ago, this being my 5th 10k of the season.

The course seemed a bit daunting when mapped out with a hillyness scale of 13, much higher than any others I had completed previously, so I set my sights on a finish of 43:50 which would put me on a 10k PB and just better my best AG.

It was hard going but the weather was good for running, all on road with traffic adding to the skill factor, plus some of the hills were a bit steep, especially the ones at 8 - 9k. I tried some of the chi techniques when I could down the hills and up a couple (thanks Karen for the tips in the Snowdonia thread), I have also brought the book just awaiting it's delivery from Amazon.

Anyway I am really pleased, nay elated that I obliterated my PB and AG and came in an unofficial Garmin time of 42:38 with my AG jumping 2 whole percent.

I'm going for a rest in a dark room now and look forward to my next 10k in a couple of weeks time which is the Gate Gallop, a local race that I believe is a 'fun factor' race chasing horses across fields and leaping over styles, sounds a bit like the Grand National to me.