Great Manchester Run 10k

What a Sunday it was! The Great Manchester Run 10k always delivers an incredible atmosphere, and this year, on May 18th, it certainly lived up to expectations. There's nothing quite like pounding the streets of Manchester alongside thousands of fellow runners, cheered on by an enthusiastic crowd. They even played The Stone Roses just as we took our place on the starting line – it felt electric! This year was particularly special for me as I got to share the experience with my wonderful wife, Katarzyna.

The race itself proved to be a bit more challenging than anticipated due to the unseasonably warm weather. It definitely added an extra layer of difficulty to the 10k distance, but we powered through, navigating through the city centre and out towards Old Trafford before looping back to finish on Deansgate. There was an excellent crowd; every high-five from a spectator, every shout of encouragement, makes a real difference.

As for my own performance, I crossed the finish line in 57 minutes and 24 seconds. While not a personal best, I'm happy with that time, especially considering the conditions. It was a solid effort given the sun, and I'm pleased with how the run went. It's a testament to consistent training (I use Coopah training – feel free to check them out with my code!) and, of course, the fantastic support from Katarzyna both on and off the course.

Watching Katarzyna cross the finish line too, knowing we'd both pushed ourselves and achieved something great together, was a fantastic feeling. These shared experiences are what make events like the Great Manchester Run so memorable.

A huge thank you to everyone who organised the event, the volunteers, and of course, the incredible Manchester crowd for making it such an unforgettable day. The medals are proudly displayed, and the memories will last a lifetime.

Now, time to recover, reflect, and perhaps start thinking about the next challenge: Chicago in October!

RIP Skype

Skype logo

The end of an era Microsoft officially shuts down Skype in favour of teams. Back in the naughtiest after the likes of ICQ AOL Messenger and MSN closed down Skype came along to fill the void. For a while it was the go to for video and voice calling. I even owned a Skype wifi phone which allowed me to call from any WiFi network. This was before FaceTime (in fact pre iPhone). 

Unfortunately like many technologies which were ahead of their time they were bought out by Microsoft and became a bit stagnant while others came along and overtook them. It’s sad to see it go especially as I am not the biggest fan of teams. 

My New Best Friend in the Garden: The Parkside Robotic Lawnmower from Lidl!

For years, keeping my lawn looking its best involved the familiar hum and the trailing cord of my Bosch electric corded mower. While it was a reliable tool, the limitations of the cable and the physical effort still made lawn care feel like a significant chore. That is, until now! I recently took the plunge and invested in a robotic lawnmower from Lidl, and honestly, it's been a game-changer for my garden. I chose the Parkside Robotic Lawnmower (Lidl Product Page), and it's been fantastic.

I'll admit, I was a little skeptical at first. Could a relatively affordable robotic mower really deliver the same results as a traditional one? Would it be complicated to set up ? Well, after a few weeks of blissful, hands-off lawn care, I can confidently say that my Parkside robotic lawnmower has exceeded all expectations.

Unboxing and Setup: Surprisingly Simple!

One of my initial concerns was the setup process. I envisioned complicated wiring and frustrating app configurations. However, I was pleasantly surprised. The instructions were clear, and laying the boundary wire was straightforward. It took a little time to carefully peg it down around my trees and my son's play swing and slide. Thankfully the included guide made it manageable. Connecting the charging station was a breeze. Within a couple of hours, my new little helper was ready to roll!

Effortless Lawn Care in Action

Watching the robotic lawnmower navigate my garden for the first time was almost mesmerizing. It moves in a seemingly random pattern, but somehow, it manages to cover every inch of the lawn, leaving behind a beautifully even cut. The best part? I can now sit back, relax with a cup of tea (or something stronger), or get on with other tasks while it does all the work. No more wrestling with that pesky cord!

Key Features I'm Loving:

• Quiet Operation: Compared to the noticeable whir of my old Bosch electric corded mower and the constant need to manage the cable, this robotic marvel is incredibly quiet and completely cordless! I can easily have a conversation or enjoy the peace of my garden while it's working.
• Consistent Cutting: The regular, small trims leaving the grass to mulch result in a consistently neat and healthy lawn. I've noticed it even seems lusher than before.
• Automatic Charging: When the battery gets low, it automatically returns to its charging station. It's completely self-sufficient!
• Safety Features: I feel secure knowing it has sensors that stop the blades if it's lifted or encounters an obstacle.

Any Downsides? (So Far, Not Many!)

Honestly, I'm struggling to find significant drawbacks so far. Of course, it might not be suitable for very large or complex gardens with steep slopes. And you do need to take the time to lay the boundary wire carefully around your garden. I also have to trim the edges and areas the mower cannot reach, I had to do so with the mower too so it's a lot less effort overall. Overall for my  garden, it's been perfect.

The Cost

The mower cost £249, but I got it for £199 with my Lidl Plus discount. I also purchased the garage for £29.99 (£24.99 with Lidl Plus) to protect the mower and charger from the rain. For not much more than the cost of a new cordless manual mower, this entire setup feels like a real bargain.

The Verdict: A Fantastic Investment!

If you're looking for a way to reclaim your time and enjoy a perfectly manicured lawn without the hassle of cords and pushing, I wholeheartedly recommend considering a robotic lawnmower, and especially the Parkside model from Lidl. It's efficient, easy to use, and has made a noticeable difference to my garden and my free time here. I'm excited to see how it performs over the long term, but for now, I'm one very happy customer!

Have you considered a robotic lawnmower? What are your thoughts? Share your experiences in the comments!

Father John Misty

Last night Kath and I headed to Manchester to see Father John Misty at the Apollo.

First stop was Bundobust for some dinner. We caught the last day of their info Chinese menu. The salt and pepper okra fries were amazing, as was the sesame gobi toast. Kath washed hers down with a sesame and ginger old fashioned. While I had a Python premium lager. Great way to get set up for a gig.

We walked to the Apollo, we had seats in the circle which gave a pretty impressive view. I normally stand but this was pretty nice got to see a bit more of the grandeur of the venue.

Opening was a county singer Butch Bastard I had never heard of him but it was an enjoyable opening.

Father John Misty's set was amazing, a dreamy mix of his old and new material. It is the third time we have seen him and he never disappoints.

Digital Voicing

Today as part of my work for Neighbourhood watch, I spent the morning volunteering at Wilmslow Library. I was helping to explain the BT digital voice switchover. It was quite a change from my usual, chatting with everyday non technical folks who were a bit jittery about the change.

Fortunately for the majority of users the switch means a very small change and for those with great needs there will be support to help them with this.

Hopefully people left feeling happier about it than when they arrived.

TaskRabbiting

I needed a small piece of cabling done which required drilling through a quite thick outside wall. I didn't have the right drill bit and rather than buy one I decided to give taskrabbit a go. This is an internet service which you can post a job and choose a "tasker" to come and do it for you.

I choose somebody call Laurence who charged about the average rate per hour. He came did the job and I got a bill for 2 hours work (it took 1.5). The total was  £68.76 including the £10.86 TaskRabbit fee and £8.11 trust and support fee. The job was done well and was slightly less than if I had used a traditional electrician. 

Overall happy with the service. 

Millenium walking

It hard to believe how much hype there was about the millennium, from people selling champagne futures to the many people who seemed to want to build civic things to mark the occasion. From the millennium dome to the Millennium walkway in New Mills which we decided to visit on our way home from center parks.

The millennium walkway in New Mills is a partly cantilevered bridge over the river Goyt adding a joining section in the E2 router which runs from Scotland to Nice in France!

It is quite a wonderful piece of engineering and still looks great all these years later. You get to have a lovely country side walk with some industrial heritage to boot, well worth a visit if you are in the area.

Centre parcs

Until this weekend I had never visited Centre Parks. To me, it was the sort of place more affluent or aspiring people visited. However Kath managed to get a deal for a long weekend there. This also included some day passes so our friends Tom, Fiona and their daughter Daisy could spend the day with us.

We choose the Sherwood Forest site, its about 2 hours drive from Wilmslow. On arrival there is a security check in and we were told we could bring the car to unload our stuff but then we had to park in the main car park.

It was pretty crazy coming in lots of people leaving and arriving.

Our cabin was a short walk from the "Village centre" where the shops, swimming area and restaurants are located. To me the town felt more like a theme park than a real place with chains like Bella Italia and Las Iguanas.  Top tip: we couldn't get anywhere for lunch on Sunday so book early to avoid disappointment.  There is a lake in the centre where you can hire a boat. There was also a go ape style forest walkway with a zip wire across the water. I would have liked to have a go on that but Thom is far too young.

There was a nice sandy "beach" next to the lake which the kids enjoyed running around and digging in. There were also parks and outdoor play areas.

We spent the most of our time in the subtropical swimming world. With a variety of water slides for all ages, a wave machine and a pirate themed area for younger children to enjoy it was a great way to spend a day. It is mostly covered by a large dome but there was a heated outdoor section with jacuzzi spa and a river rapid. Thom had a great time with the water play. The only annoying thing was trying to find somewhere to leave your towel. People are quite territorial with the chairs marking their territory. 

The lodges are all set in the woodland ours had a nice view of the trees with plenty of nature outside. Thom enjoyed watching squirrels, ducks, moorhens and geese. 

The bed was comfortable though the couches were a bit too soft for my liking.

There is a food delivery service so you can order takeaway to the lodge. The kitchen was actually better than I expected so I think I would take more food to make next time.

Overall had a great time, yes its expensive but there was plenty to do and I enjoyed the setting. It would be great to have a BBQ outside when the weather was a bit warmer. Id probably use the restaurants less, they were really expansive I even got charged 75p for a small sauce to go with my chips!

Down in a hole

Today we went to visit Pool Cavern in Buxton. The Cavern was created by the water movement dissolving away the limestone over thousands of years. There are Stalagmites and Stalactite the largest of which named ‘Flitch of Bacon’. It is approximately 100,000 years old & 6ft 1.8m long. 

Currently the Cavern has been illuminated with Christmas lights the entire length, its a simple but very effective show.

Starting from the museum displaying items and fossiles found during the excavation of the site. We took around 45 minutes to view the museum then walk the length of the cavern. 

We had lunch afterward in the cafe which was tasty and child and dog friendly.

After lunch we took a stroll into the Buxton county park walking the Yellow trail up to Solomons temple. Solomons temple is a Victorian Era folly sited at the highest point in Derbyshire and the Peak District at 636m (2,088ft). The walk begins at the car park then up 50 or so steps then a gently inclining slope through the Woods. There are several statues on the way celebrating the history of the area. As the wood gives way to grassland close to the summit the views of Buxton and the surrounding areas are fantastic. The walk there and back was around 3KM mostly gravel tracks. Though steep in places our son Thom (4yo) managed without issues.

iRobot (the vacuuming one)

Roomba docked in the kitchen 

Today my new home helper arrive in the form of a Roomba J5+. I have been toying with the idea of buying a robot vacuum for a while. We have three cats and a small boy so there is always a lot of fluff and muck to clean up.

The package was simple enough take out the roomba and stand, site the stand then insert the roomba. There is an app for the iPhone I downloaded. The first run roomba wanders around the house mapping the floor plan. After which a map appears which you can subdivide into different rooms. 

The mapping took quite a while around one hour and forty five minutes. It did produce a pretty good representation of the ground floor. 

Once finished with the mapping (and a recharge) we set roomba going vacuuming round. It was did a good job clearing up dust and pet fluff and was small enough go go underneath our sofa and armchair. Even cleaned up the pine needles from the Christmas tree.

It is able to empty its dust collection into the dock which is nice, and should mean it only needs infrequent emptying.

I was able to pair roomba with my existing google home assistant and after naming the areas on the smart map I am able to say "Hey google ask roomba to clean the hall" and google will trigger roomba to go to that area and start a clean.

The unit also came with a mop function attachment. This requires more manual effort, first have to attach a cloth the unit then swap out the normal collection bin with the split mop and vacuum one. The downside to this is that it cannot empty the contents into the dock you need to fill the water prior to use then empty manually once roomba is finished. I would say the it did an adequate but not impressive job mopping, it wasn't able to get out mucky hallway clean from mudstains. It was able to clean the more lightly soiled kitchen floor.

Overall its a great bit of kit, especially as a vacuum. It cleaned up my house nicely and I can schedule it to run. It takes longer than vacuuming yourself however you are not putting in the work.

Happy birthday Thom

Today was Thom’s birthday party. His birthday is next week to celebrate. We held a party at Brookside Garden Centre where he and all his friends got to paint baubles then ride on the miniature train.

Everybody seemed to have fun, it was lovely so many of Thom's (and our) friends came. 

The group ride on the train was really cute we went on all togerther. Santa was at the halfway point o the train ride so they all got to say Merry Christmas too.

Kath bough cakes and brownies for everybody to enjoy. Afterwards we headed to the Aviator in Woofdord for Dinner with Dan Kate and Rafe. Overall a lovely day with friends and lots of fun.

Chicago bound

I found our today that I got into the Chicago marathon ballot for 2025. I am pretty excite this will be number four of the six (well soon to be seven) Abbot marathon majors. 

I will be booking the trip with my favourite marathon tour company sports tours international, so I should have a bit of support out there. Roll on 12th October 2025

Bluey and Pottery

We went for a day out to Brookside pottery who were doing a Blue themed day where the kids got the meet a costumed Bluey. We were joined by Fiona, Tom and Daisy.

The kids got to choose a pot to paint, Thom chose an aeroplane and Daisy a triceratops.

After the pottery painting we went for a ride on the train, then there was an old school fun fair so we also had a ride on some of the attractions. Thom and Daisy loved it Tom not so much.

After the usual period of warming up to each other Thom and Daisy are really nice together. They did some really good sharing and had a hug when saying goodbye.

 

Down in a hole

Just returned from a short break in Llandudno Wales. We have a lovely time, took the tram up the great Orme. Visited the mines there, I had no idea that North Wales was a centra of copper extraction 400 years ago!

On Saturday we drove across stopping to have a look round the mountain Zoo. It's been a long time since we were here and it's improved a lot. The Snow leopard enclosure is much improved as have most of the facilities. There is an excellent play park there Thom enjoyed messing around seemingly as much as seeing the 

animals.

We hired a small airbnb flat, its location was perfect a short walk to the pier and the lower tram station. After arriving we had a play on the beach then a walk down the pier and a go on the ferris wheel there. Thom enjoyed going round.

The weather wasn't as good Sunday. I managed to get a run in then we headed up the tram first getting off halfway to access the mine. They were discovered in 1980's while trying to build a car park, it totally changed what people thought of pre Roman Briton. Here was a sophisticated Bronze Age people carving out miles of tunnels and trading tin with Cornwall, 200 years before the Romans arrived, incredible. 

On Monday we headed to Baumaris castle, the best unfinished castle! You can walk around a lot of the walls and there were some reenactments and fancy dress. Even a model of the castle which the kids can play with, great fun.

Slow motion fountain Ciatudella

via IFTTT

TCS London marathon 2024 training roundup thanks @coopahrunning1679 @TCSLondonMarathon

via IFTTT

TCS London marathon 2024 Medal Engraving

My watch warning me I was tired!

This morning I felt very sore but manage to drag myself out of bed early so that I could go and get my medal engraved at the New Balance store on Oxford road. The escalator at St Pauls didn't work going down so I had to make a painful and slow decent my quads were really hell! I made it to join the queue just after 9. I met a couple of ladies from Chicago in the queue. They were telling me that London was better than Chicago marathon in terms of the support. We were all handed a free New Balance branded water bottle while we queued, it took around an hour but the actual engraving was super quick.

Thom and Kath checked out after me and we met up at a coffee shop afterwards (they even brought me a coffee while I was waiting in line). Then it was off back home on the train.

 

TCS London Marathon 2024

Today was the day after a heck of a lot of training including around 900 miles of running, today was the London Marathon.

I headed out the apartment this morning to catch the DLR from Bank to Greenwich park. My wave was RED 11 so quite near to the end of the runners, I needed to get to the start around 10 for an 11 am start.

The DLR was super busy, there were huge queues as Canary Wharf I was glad to have gotten on earlier. Arriving at Greenwich there was a walk to the park then get to the pens in time for the start of the race.

I was talking to an American lady in the pen. She was just completing her abbot six stars, very exciting.

I started the race around 11:08, following the 4:30 pacer up until about half way then dropping back to the 4:45 pacer unto around mile 20. Going over tower bridge just before the halfway point was incredible, such an iconic scene and so many people. The race carried. won snacking around the docklands. My legs were feeling really tired by this point and my pace dropped. By mile 24 I was feeling very tired but the crowd was still huge. Kath and Thom saw me but I missed them.

The end of the marathon takes you down the mall towards Buckingham Palace, finishing just afterwards. I was exhausted but I made it in just a smidge under 5 hours, 4:57:37. 

The Land is inhospitable and so are we

Today Kath Thom and I headed to London on the train so that I could pick my number up for the London Marathon tomorrow. Kate P's brother was also running and as luck would have it our trains arrived at Euston at almost the same time so we have a quick chance to meet up and wish each other luck. Then we headed from Euston to the marathon show in the ExCel centre. It was very busy with lots of runner collecting their numbers and there was a big property investment show in the hall next door. People in suits meeting people in running gear.

The number collection was actually very well organised I only had to queue for a few minutes before getting my number and a bag for the drop off.

We had a wonder around the stalls, Thom loved the music and lights at the main sponsor new Balance. I bought myself a new hoody there. I managed to find my name on the marathon wall and we cruised around signing up for various promotions. I also collected my free T-Shirt.

Feeling a bit tired we headed to the apartment we rented at the Kings Wardrobe near to St Pauls cathedral. The apartment had two rooms a small kitchen and a living area it was actually really lovely and we were all pleased. Settling in for an evening of carb loading via Pizza Express.

 

So much for the 10 year plan

Today marks Kath and I being married for 10 years! It has been an incredible time, we've moved house had a child, and had so many adventures together.

Time has really flown I can still remember the day so vividly, so many of our friends from the UK travelled with us to Bialystok. Being married at the town hall then partying until the small hours at Folwark nadawki. It must have been good because Kath's sister chose the same venue.

Getting married to her was the best decision of my life, and I can't wait to see what the next 10 years bring.